Beyond The Stars
by BrennahScully
Summary: Nova is on the hunt for the truth of her family and where she came from. But when you have been hiding for 15 years from the government with your partial twin brother, it can be a bit difficult to remain out of sight. She has to step into the middle of the people who wish to harm her to ensure her and her brother remain safe, as well as the parents who don't know she exists.
1. Prolouge

"All ready?" William asked. He was smiling his laid back grin, but there was anxiety in his eyes. Nova felt it too.

"Of course not. William, why can't you come with me?" she asked, taking his hand into hers. It was clammy and slightly shaking. She wasn't sure if it was from the chill in the air or the fear they shared between them.

William squeezed her hand hard. He could feel her joints shift under the pressure.

"Because. It has to be one at a time. We can't both disappear at the same time or else they will think we had something to do with it," he said, dragging her down to sit in the wet grass with him.

"But we do."

William laughed. He was so nonchalant and could see the humor in everything. Nova envied that.

"Well yeah. But if we are together, it will be easier to be spotted and caught. And if we are caught, everything is ruined. We don't want them to separate us because they think we left to be together!"

Nova was the one to laugh this time.

"Yeah, they already think we are in love. So gross! If only they knew who we were, they'd be so embarrassed!" she whispered back.

They laid on the ground laughing, looking up at the night stars. It took a moment, but eventually all they could hear were the crickets in the thicket of woods so close to them. Nova turned to William.

"What happens if I don't make it? What happens if I don't find them? What happens if I die out there? What happens if-"

"Nova, you've got to stop," William interrupted the girl.

"What?" she asked, her blue eyes brightened with frustration.

"The 'What If's. A lot of things could happen, but I know they won't. And you know that too," he said. His voice felt like a warm blanket to the girl.

She nodded knowing he was right. They looked back up at the night sky.

"I also know she won't believe me on who I am," she sighed. Her chest hurt at the thought.

"Yeah she won't. But that's why we won't tell anyone until we are together again."

"William, what makes you think she'll believe you? She hasn't see you in FOURTEEN YEARS. You aren't exactly the same big eyed baby she held back then."

William sighed. Nova could be hard to convince.

"You sound a lot like her," he said.

"So you're still having the dreams too then?" she asked. He nodded and turned to her. They had both had them since they could remember.

"They've gotten more common. Almost every night I hear her complaining about messy rooms and how proud she is about grades and awards," William said, almost in a daze.

"Me too."

They both laid there, a weight in their chest that visited them both nightly. It seemed like an eternity before Nova stood and brushed off her clothes. William followed.

They stood in front of one another before Nova hugged the boy, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Don't worry Nova. In just a little bit of time, we will be together. We will do what we need to do and then we will get to spend time with the people who we had to be torn from. We will be together. Just you wait," he whispered in her ear.

Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and dripped onto William's night shirt. It was a few minutes before she pulled away. She was crying full on now, but she smiled and nodded anyway.

He kissed her cheek and she kissed his. Just as Nova was about to turn to walk away, William dug out a rock from his pocket. She knew what it was immediately.

"Is this the fossil rock I brought you after you had your tonsils removed?" she asked.

"Yeah. I remember you spent all day trying to find an arrowhead and couldn't find one but when you came back you were covered in dirt and cut but you had to get it for me. Reminds me that you are willing to do so much for me, just like I am for you."

Nova smiled and clenched the rock tightly.

"It will be a reminder that I will come back to you to get it, because it's still mine!" he demanded jokingly. Nova laughed and shoved his shoulder before embracing again.

Nova kept the fossil grasped in her palm as she made it to the edge of the forest where her route to Maryland would start. She looked back and saw the redheaded boy still standing there, waving.

"I love you William," she shouted to him. She waited.

"I love you Nova. Don't worry!"

Nova turned and stepped into the brush. Easy for him to say. He wasn't the alien-kid hunting two federal agents.


	2. Chapter One

Nova sat on a river bank, cleaning the dried mud from her boots. It had rained more in the last three days than the whole four months she had been traveling. Supposedly it didn't rain much in Maryland, but there had already been 12 inches of rain within the last 72 hours and there was promise of more.

Nova sighed as she laced back up her boots and stood back up. She was wet and dirty and tired. She wanted to go home to Nan and to Will and pretend like she had never left. She knew she couldn't, but that's what she often found herself crying about at night.

She made it into Maryland about a week ago and was about two days out from the FBI office where Scully and Mulder worked and had made their names known. As the time grew closer that Nova would lay her eyes on the agents in person, the more she wanted to turn back. She didn't feel she could do it without Will by her side.

All she was suppose to do was locate and investigate the agents from afar, but even that seemed like a bad idea. After three days of tracking them, Nova was to notify William that she had found them and that night he would hop on a bus to Maryland to join her.

She was still frustrated that she was the one who had to locate them. Yes, it was more dangerous for Nova to be spotted and that meant she would have to stay off of public transport as much as possible. Nova and William were both very different from most around them, but Nova held a bit more.. risk.

So it was she who had to take the journey on foot and back roads, traveling small distances at a time. She had to celebrate her 15th birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve alone, but she knew it was for the better of the near future.

She was just starting to get a good jogging pace going when she heard the breaking of a twig behind her. She stopped in her place, placing her hand into her overalls pocket. For most people, someone wouldn't be able to see in the dying light of the January day, the stars already shinning above. She didn't see the glow of a flashlight, so someone would have to have very good eyes like herself to see.

She had had close calls with strangers on her journey, but they were all avoided. Nova could hear this person breathing, panting. She felt her eyes dilate and she shut them tight.

" _No Nova, not now_ ", she told herself. She couldn't let it take a nasty turn. She was almost there and she wouldn't ruin this for William. She had to calm down.

She remembered what William had taught her, and let time freeze for a moment...

 _Her red curled pigtails bounced as she ran, giggling loudly and flailing her arms. She kept tripping on the edge of the dress that was too long for her, causing the redheaded boy to catch up and grab her shoulder, causing them to both tumble to the ground, one on top of the other._

 _The girl began to cry as she felt the sting of her bleeding knee, cut by a rock on the ground. The boy convinced her to let him pull the dress over her knees to take a look. It took a moment for him to run to his house and back, a band aid and wet wipe in hand. He cleaned her knee and bandaged it, even planting a small kiss on top of the band aid for 'extra healing powers'. He hugged her and told her it would stop hurting soon. He was right, like every other time._

Nova opened her eyes again, breathing in deeply, letting her thoughts ground her. She knew she could be out numbered or in danger that she couldn't defend herself from. She needed to get out into the open, even if that was a huge risk all in its self. But of course being captured or dying is much more dangerous.

A round of thunder grumbled through the trees as rain began to fall. Nova slowly stepped backward, not sure who was there or where they were. Another twig snapped to her left and she saw a huge figure in a black cloak appear from behind a tree about 120 ft from where she stood. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the person.

It was only a glimpse, but Nova was looking at a man with purple eyes who's teeth seemed to be filed down to points. He reminded her of the demon from The Exorcist.

"What the hell are you?!" Nova breathed.

He seemed to snarl and Nova knew she had just became prey. She wasted no time as she turned and began to ran, the cloaked monster man not far behind her.

"Mulder! I'm cold and I don't have time to be sick. There is nothing out there, especially not in this rain! Lets go. We will come back tomorrow when it is light and dry!" Scully yelled over the pounding hiss of the rain.

Mulder turned around, squinting to prevent water from streaming into his eyes.

"Scully, its here! I know it is! This is where the woman reported she saw the fire. What about this morning when we saw the black hood?!" Mulder yelled back.

" _WE_ didn't see anything. It was you who supposedly saw this man!"

Scully groaned. She knew that he wasn't going to quit, but she wanted to leave. It was pointless to look for anything in a downpour in the middle of the night.

Scully was just turning around when she saw the leaves of a bush move a little off the trail they were on. She pointed her flashlight towards the spot and for a brief moment, she saw a face before it ducked back into the grass.

Scully pulled out her gun, aiming in that direction.

"Come out. Federal Agents. Come out with your hands up!"

Mulder heard her and rushed to her side to join her, gun pointed to the bush. It was still and quiet, neither agent even hearing the rain.

Then out of no where, the figure bolted back into the trees. The agents ran after them, shouting orders to get the person to stop.

Whoever it was ran fast. It was a dark silhouette, but the bobbing of a back pack was visible. The figure looked back at the pursers, guns drawn, struggling to run in the wet grass.

The agents were loosing speed and falling behind, when suddenly the figure fell to the ground. They raced to the person as the figure struggled to get back on their feet, but the agents were there in a flash of a moment.

Scully and Mulder surrounded the person who now appeared small.

"Federal Agents, let me see your hands," Scully growled.

Flashlights pointed at the soaking wet, mud covered figure, a young girls face appeared. No older than sixteen, frail, and bruised. She looked ill and was shaking as she raised her hands. Both of the agents holstered their guns.

She wouldn't look them in the eyes, almost afraid they'd recognize her.

"Who are you? Why are you out here?" Mulder asked, kneeling down to the girl's level.

All she did was shake her head. Scully squatted down as well.

"You can trust us. We are FBI and we can help you," she said.

The girl looked at them, letting them know she knew that wasn't true.

Mulder sighed and stood up.

"Where do you live?" he asked. She looked around for a moment.

"I'm homeless," she squeaked. Rain stuck to her delicate, long eyelashes.

Scully's heart sank. She had no where. Scully looked at Mulder and he nodded. He took out his phone and walked away for a moment to make a call. Scully smiled warmly to the girl.

"Whats your name?" she asked as she helped her to her feet.

The teenager thought for a moment before sharing.

"My name is Nova. I'm 15," she whispered, brushing back her red curly hair behind her ear.

Scully looked at the girl more closely. It was hard to see everything in the dark, but she had big blue eyes and curly red hair that reached the middle of her back. She looked familiar in a strange way and something in Scully's chest seemed to twitch.

Before Scully could start to ask any questions, Mulder came back over.

"Would you like to come with us?" Mulder said.

She opened her mouth, but really wasn't sure what to do. She sighed, frustrated.

"We can get you all the stuff you need. Put you someplace dry and safe," Scully offered.

It took a moment, but the girl nodded. She smiled before looking down at the puddle she was standing in.

It was a wet and long walk to the car, but Mulder had put his coat of the girl, trying to prevent any more water soaking her clothes. She was walking in front of them due to the fact they needed to keep an eye on her in case she ran.

"She is going to be staying with you until we can figure out whats going on with her," Mulder whispered to Scully.

Scully surprisingly wasn't bothered by it. She had a good feeling about Nova, but wondered what he meant by 'whats going on'.

"What do they think is up with her?" she asked.

"They think she may have seen something in the woods. From where she was. Plus, her boots have that strange colored purplish clay that the victims all had painted onto their body."

Scully at the shoes walking ahead of her and saw the purple mud on them. Scully nodded. There was silence for a moment before they reached the car. Mulder let Nova in and was about to get into the drivers seat when he turned to Scully.

"Oh. She is in the care of the FBI and has to be watched by an agent. She is going to be staying with you until otherwise," he said before quickly hoping into the car.

Scully wanted to be mad for not being asked, but she did want to get to know Nova.

Nova sat in the back seat of Mulder's car, staring at the rain that was lapping at the windshield. They had asked her questions, but she had refused to answer them. This wasn't the plan. She wasn't suppose to make contact without William. She had to do one thing. She would need to find a way to call William without them noticing. He always adapted so well to things like this.

Nova let out a yawn. It had been such a long day. A long four months. A long fifteen years. It hadn't sunken in that she was sitting in a car with the people she had dreamed of since she was a baby, the people that were so often a topic of conversation.

She stared at them as they held hands and quietly chatted, a smile on their faces. She waited for the anxiety and reality of what had just happened to hit, but for now she sat, her head falling to the side as she closed her eyes and slept in the comfort of knowing this was real.


	3. Chapter Two

_"I see trees of green, red roses too_

 _I see them bloom for me and you_

 _And I think to myself what a wonderful world..."_

 _The two sang along with Louis Armstrong, their tiny voices mixing in with the scratchy record player. Nan watched the two coloring pictures on the floor. Usually six year olds would draw dinosaurs and their families, but these two were working on detailed landscapes. She had grown accustomed to how intelligent they were, but it still shocked her to see their potential._

 _Nova and William pointed to one another's drawings, their discussions hidden by the music. Nova smiled as she took notice to the owl Will drew in an oak tree and he laughed at the turtle in the river bank of hers._

 _Nan was the only one who knew what they were. Who they were. She had made a promise to protect them. She knew she wasn't their mother, but she had raised Nova, taught William. She loved the small little beings in her living room. She loved to watch them grow._

 _She turned back to focus on their lunches. A turkey sandwich with mozzarella cheese and pickles for Nova and a tomato and basil on rye with mayo_ _(regular or he would absolutely through a fit)_ _for William. Such odd tastes, but she knew their odd bodies just craved what they needed._

 _Nan poured some goldfish crackers onto their plates when she saw through the kitchen window the men dressed in what looked like cable men suits come out from an unmarked van. She never called anyone._

 _The plates shattered on the linoleum as Nan rushed, jerking both children off the ground and running with them like they were the promising ball of a winning touchdown at the Superbowl._

 _At first they giggled, thinking it was a game, but when Nan opened the secret hideaway space in the spare room closet, they knew something was wrong._

 _Nan covered their mouths, their tears streaming down her hand. Their little chests heaved, but the woman made sure they didn't let out a peep. They could hear yelling and the crashing of books and furniture as they clattered to the floor._

 _They only heard bits and pieces of what was being said. 'Lost', 'Girl', 'Blood', 'Key', and 'Stolen' were some of them, but they made no sense to the children. Nan knew, but she wouldn't tell. Not yet, not this young._

 _It took what seemed like an eternity, but eventually everything seemed to grow quiet. The children had cried out all of their energy. They wanted to sleep. To pretend this hadn't happened and eat lunch._

 _They slowly left the safe spot and explored the house to find it had been torn through, no shelf left standing. Everything had been searched, even tearing the pages out of Nova's favorite chapter book. She picked it up and squeezed it to her chest._

 _William came from the living room, where just a small while ago they had been singing and drawing. Now he held the broken record of their favorite song, looking as if it had been stomped._

 _Nova took a piece and so did William, both turning the black plastic pieces over and over again in their small hands. They never discussed it, but that's the moment they both knew there was something very different about them. That this supposedly wonderful world wasn't made for them._

* * *

Nova winced as Scully brushed out her knotted wet hair. She got to take a real bath for the first time in four months and she felt like a new person. Her hair had gone without a trim for some time and was damaged from lack of care, but Scully was determined to get it combed.

"So, is there anything you can tell me about yourself Nova?" she asked, peering at the girl who sat on the floor below her. She had no clean clothes so Mulder had given her one of his long sleeve tee-shirts that seemed to swallow her, making her look smaller and more vulnerable than she already did.

Nova clutched her book bag closer to her and cleared her throat.

"Uh.. No."

Scully sighed and thought for a moment as she parted the girl's red hair.

"Well how about your name? Can you tell me how you got that?" she asked, beginning to braid Nova's hair.

"That would scare the absolute shit out of you," Nova thought. She couldn't do that. Not yet.

"Agent Scully. It's a long story and has been a very long day. Can I tell you tomorrow?" she asked, swinging her head around to face the woman once she had secured her hair. Her big blue eyes seemed to hold a very strange glint, almost as if they held more wisdom than they should.

Scully smiled at the girl and she smiled back. Dana wasn't sure what it was, but something was very gentle about the teenager.

The girl's smile faded when she began to itch her skin. It seemed that Nova had fallen not only in a bush of poison ivy but had also upset a bed of fire ants and was now covered in rash and painful bites. Scully quickly grabbed a bottle off of her night stand.

She helped smeared a pink lotion onto Nova's skin for the third time that night, hoping to give the girl some more relief. Nova made a face when it came close to her nose that cause Scully to chuckle a bit, but the girl didn't resist, enjoying the comfort.

Once Scully had covered all the skin with ointment, she got her settled on the couch. She covered her up with a quilt her mother had made for her when she was a child. She usually didn't take it from the closet, but today seemed like the perfect reason. Give comfort to a girl just like her mother gave comfort to her.

"Alright Nova, if you need me, just shout. I'll hear you. Goodnight, sleep well," the agent said as she reached over to the end table to turn off the light.

Scully was heading up the stairs when she stopped to look over at the girl who was starring at the ceiling. She thought of William, but pushed it away. He was okay, she knew that.

* * *

"Minimize your porn, I'm coming in" Scully said as she slipped into the office of their home. Mulder turned to look at her and laugh before returning his attention back to the screen.

"For your information, I'm trying to see if I can't find anything about Nova."

Scully came and stood beside the desk chair, laying her head on his shoulder.

"What did you find?" she asked, her lips close enough to his ear to make him shiver. He was interested, but focused on the task at hand.

"That's the thing. Nothing. No missing child reports. No criminal records. No suspect descriptions. Its like someone doesn't care this child is gone or she really has no one..." he trailed off, looking at his lap.

The thought of a child on their own made their hearts ache. Scully's eyes stung and she buried her face into his neck. He kissed the top of her red head. She brought her face up again and carefully pressed her lipstick worn lips to his.

She had missed him so badly since they separated. He had felt the same way. It was hard to work with one another a lot of them time, but their was this special connection they couldn't turn off, no matter how hard they tried.

Things were getting heated when a straggled scream came from downstairs. Both agents grew their guns out of habit and flew down the stairs.

Mulder checked the doors and Scully ran to the couch to check on Nova. There she saw Nova convulsing, her body red a splotchy. She was having a seizure.

Scully called for Mulder and they moved her to the floor and rolled her on her side to prevent her from choking. Anxiety and the amount of poison in her blood could have caused it, but when Scully opened Nova's eye, she nearly dropped to the ground herself.

She had no iris. Her eyes were black. Completely black. Scully looked to Mulder for guidance, but she found him talking to Nova instead, trying to coach her along. It seemed to be working, so Scully decided to check her eyes again.

This time they were large, but not taking up the entire eye. It was most likely just a mistake, but it didn't seem like it. It wasn't long after that that Nova seemed to regain normality.

Scully and Mulder picked her up and put her back on the couch, tucking her in and placing a cold rag on her forehead.

"I'm sorry. Stress on my body and anxiety can bring on those weird seizures. I didn't mean to make a mess or a fuss... I'm so sorry.." she mumbled, still weak. Her eyes were fluttering closed and her head lolled to the side.

"Its okay sweetheart. Just get some rest. We will check you out further in the morning," Scully whispered, not wanting Nova to reopen her eyes.

The girl forced a smile for a moment before her breathing deepened. She lay with her head rested to the side, her ginger braid already messy and falling into her face. Mulder's shirt covered her hand and swaddled her. She seemed to be smiling almost, her long eyelashes fluttering.

Mulder cocked his head to the side and Scully took notice.

"What?" she whispered to him. He shook his head.

"Something about this. About _her_... It seems so familiar."


	4. Chapter Three (Flashback)

_**June 2nd, 2001**_

Natalie Langly paced on her front porch, eyes locked on the trees ahead of her. She must have lost her mind and then some, taking on something like this.

She got calls often from the boys. Her brother had been part of the Lone Gunmen since before they found one another and they had some how manged to turn her into a believer and get her involved in some of their crazy plots. She believed the truth was out there and people should know. But this was something none of them knew what to do with.

She feared that the government would discover what her brother and his friends had done. She knew if they were discovered it would ultimately lead to their death, but that was something that had to be pushed aside. That wasn't what mattered.

Suddenly through the dark shone a yellow gleam that cut through the trees. Natalie jumped from her porch and ran down her gravel driveway. Her neighbors' houses were all dark and she prayed that meant they were asleep and wouldn't notice the car pulling in at such a late hour.

It was the "borrowed" car her brother had described over the phone that they were using to ensure they wouldn't be tracked back to it as their get away car. She could see Melvin in the driver's seat, coaxing the car into park at the end of the road. Natalie ran to meet them, her brother getting out of the backseat.

She watched as he pulled a basket that had sat beside him. A blanket covered it, and it seemed like it could be holding laundry. That is when a tiny grunt came from under the cover.

Natalie immediately motioned for them to follow her and they did, jogging into the safety of the woman's house. Melvin looked around before shutting and locking the front door.

They had set the basket on the floor and were now all looking down at a fussing newborn baby. Natalie looked up at her brother.

"I thought you said there was two?" she asked.

"There are. She has a brother. But he wasn't born in the lab. He is the control. A somewhat forced natural conception, he developed as a normal pregnancy. He is with their mother. For now," John whispered.

The tiny little girl began to cry out now, her sobs pitiful and new. Natalie picked up the child, trying to comfort her and get a better look.

She was only in a diaper and hat that had a stain, her skin cool to the touch. Natalie reached to pull a blanket that laid on her couch to wrap the tiny body. That's when she noticed the blisters and bruises. She looked up urgently at the men who surrounded her. They looked at one another.

"She is the experiment. They are siblings of the exact same genes, but she was the child that was to be subject to tests and additives. She wasn't a child to them. She is just another try at a future solider that they created in their minds," Melvin mumbled.

The baby had opened her eyes. Big and blue with long eyelashes. She had strawberry blonde hair that was fluffy on top her head. Her skin was pink and soft where it had not been tested and poked. Her belly was stuck out, her umbilical chord freshly fallen. Natalie smiled. The child was beautiful.

"What's her name?" she asked, rubbing the baby's cheek.

"Nova," John said. Natalie looked at him, not needing to verbally ask.

"She is from the stolen ova of an agent. There was a "surrogate" that carried her in her womb which had been scientifically and genetically altered to ensure no DNA would transfer to Nova, just help her develop. She was basically a container and coincidentally died right after the birth," Melvin explained.

"But the woman's name supposedly was Nadya, so they took the first letter of her name as some twisted form of thanks and put it with the word Ova. And thats how they got Nova.."

Natalie thought the origin of the name was awful, but that it fit the baby well. Her eyes seemed to be made of stars themselves, little novas sitting on her cheeks.

They all sat for a moment, looking down at the child who seemed to be falling asleep in Natalie's arms.

"What do we do now?" she asked, bringing the baby to lay on her chest.

"You raise her," Richard spoke out for the first time since the Lone Gunmen's arrival. He took a backpack from his shoulders and pushed it towards his sister.

"All of her papers and notes are in some files here. There is also some medication she is on due to the fact that she has some radiation exposure and another viral infection. We took some diapers, but thats all we could get our hands on before we had to get out. There are a few other things in this bag that she will need to have with her," he said, tracing a finger along Nova's tiny face.

The men's eyes seemed to soak the baby's image, knowing this will be the only time they see her. Melvin stepped forward.

"There will come a day in the future, that her brother will come to be near her. Its inevitable. They will reunite and they will learn of who they are and why they have come to be who they are. That is because you will learn, and you will teach them what they don't already know. That also means one day Nova and William will leave for a purpose of greater good. You mustn't stop them. They are the key to a more peaceful future..." Melvin trailed off, heading towards the door.

Natalie followed, Nova now propped against her, breathing heavily. They all stopped as John grasped the doorknob. Melvin dug in his pocket and pulled out a quarter. He placed it in Natalie's free hand and placed a soft kiss on the side of Nova's face.

"It takes a lot of money to raise a baby, and this is all I have right now, but it should help."

A tear seemed to form in his eyes. It was strange to see them so attached to the tiny little girl who they had just met themselves.

The other two men also dug in their pockets, collectively coming up with a gift of $2.35 for the newborn. Each Gunmen kissed Natalie on the cheek, and then the baby. Richard stopped to embrace his sister. They looked at one another and knew. This would be the last time they were going to see each other.

"I wish we had met sooner in life," Richard said. They were half siblings, and weren't aware the other had existed until Natalie needed a kidney many years ago.

"Me too. I love you Richard," she replied, a tear forming in her eye. He hugged her again, knowing that he meant it too. He walked out into the night, towards the stolen car that was already running. She watched them back up and speed to the trees. They were gone, and she knew it was forever.

Natalie locked the door behind her and turned off the lights. She swiped the book bag and carried it and Nova to a hallway closet. She slipped in and allowed herself to turn on the light. She wanted no one to be able to see a light in the house. She checked that Nova was still sleep comfortably against her chest before going through the contents of the bag.

Several files of notes were shoved in there, something that would take time to pick apart and research, so she set that to the side. Two birth certificates, one blank and one already filled out with fake information, were also in there, to ensure that Nova could get everything she needed without raising suspicion. To ensure she appeared to be Natalie's baby, not the FBI's.

She found six diapers stuffed in the bag, just like the boys had said. She would have to go to the store tomorrow for major baby shopping anyway, but hopefully she would have enough until the morning.

A bag of medication took up a good bit of room. It contained vials of red liquid and a small baggy of tiny needles. She looked down at the tiny body that had already been poked so many times, which she would have to poke again until the medicines were gone. There were also creams for burns and antibiotics for infections.

She reached in one last time and pulled out a wrapped package. She undid the brown paper and pulled off the bubble wrap. She flipped over the wooden frame in her hand to reveal a picture. A man and woman, smiling at whoever was holding the camera. The man was tall with brown hair and dark eyes, his smile relaxed. The woman was small with sea blue eyes and red hair, her smile a little sharper.

Natalie looked down at the baby. While she was still small and still had that usual newborn look, she could tell that the couple in the picture was the child's parents.

She was the unknown product created with the couple's stolen genetic material, forced to grow in the body of a woman who was more of a constructed incubator. She knew the woman was most likely picked from somewhere she wouldn't be missed and put through horrible things just to carry a stolen child they wished to turn into a super solider.

Natalie pushed the thought away. She had to worry about Nova now. Keeping her safe. Keeping her away from someone who would harm her and take her back to the people who ensured so much pain for her.

She put the frame to the side when she saw a glitter from between the frame edges. She removed the back and found a tiny golden cross hidden behind the photo. She wasn't sure what it was for, but she knew it was intended for Nova.

She was too small to wear it now, so she put it back into the frame. Nova would receive it once the time came. Natalie placed everything back in the backpack.

The now foster mother leaned against the wall. She held the baby in front of her. She made icky faces and held her knees up, trying to remain in the fetal position. She opened one eye slightly, looking around. Natalie laughed and kissed her little nose.

"My name is Natalie. I'm not your Mommy, but I love you just the same. I promise I am going to keep you safe and love you as if you were mine," she whispered to Nova, who had now woken up slightly.

Natalie was in her late thirties and could not have children, so Nova was in a way a blessing. She knew there would be unbelievable struggles ahead, but it didn't matter. She loved the tiny girl in her arms too much to let even aliens stop her from caring for Nova.

"Welcome home Nova-" Natalie stopped mid sentence to look at one of the fake birth certificates that already had her whole name listed. She read it and then looked back up at the baby.

"Welcome home Nova Katherine Langly," Natalie finished. The baby cooed for a moment before becoming fussy.

Natalie brought her close and hummed, rocking her as best she could. She sang lullabies and told Nova she loved her until the sun rose that morning.


	5. Chapter Four

"Hello?" The voice was groggy, yet alert. It made the girl feel at ease, almost like she was calling home from next door. She had waited until 3:45 to use the house phone, to ensure no one would walk in.

"Nan, its Nova," she whispered hoarsely. Her throat hurt and she ached all over, the long journey finally taking its tole on her.

Natalie sat up, Nova hearing rustling bed sheets and clearing throats in the background.

"Oh my god. My little one. You made it. You're safe!"

Nova could hear the woman begin to cry. It made her heart hurt and smile at the same time. Nova wasn't sure where to start or how much time she had, so she let her adoptive mother continue.

"So you found them?" Natalie asked, clearing her throat again.

"Uh... Well... Actually-" Nova was cut off.

"Wait. You were suppose to call William first. And he would have already left but I saw him this afternoon. Is everything alright? Has something happened?" Nan now sounded frantic.

"Nothing bad. Just not according to plan..." Nova kept to a whisper. She was holding the phone with a washcloth, making sure that there would be no evidence that she had made a call. She was suppose to be an orphan with no one to lean on. Someone realizing she had made a call out would blow her cover.

"What does that mean?" Nan sounded upset. Nova wanted to hang up.

"I'm in their house. I was being chased by this man with some sort of vision problem, which is a story for another time, and I stumbled into some sort of clearing and there they were. I tried to run away, but I fell. They caught me, I told them I'm homeless, and for some reason, their superior allowed them to take me in," the teenager said with one breath.

There was another uncomfortable silence.

"Nova. This is dangerous. They work among the people who have hunted you your whole life. You needed to make sure they were still on the right side, then to confirm to Will to follow. They know he is their son. But they don't know you. They won't believe you at first. They won't want to believe. You need your brother Nova. You were created as a pair of science projects, but you didn't turn out that way. You need one another to do what ever it is you are being called to do. You need William. You are incomplete with out the other..."

Nova was beginning to cry. She was more frustrated than anything, but she also felt desperate. Nan was right. William being far away had a strange effect on her.

"What do I do Nan? I can't call William from here. His parents will call back, looking for William once he leaves. Them not knowing and just looking for their son could get us all killed. And I can't leave. They'd hunt me down and that's when the real grilling would start," Nova said, wiping away tears.

Nan huffed on the other end, letting Nova know she was thinking.

"Look. I will tell William as soon as I see him in the morning. I will let him know what happened and he will have to hide here to ditch the school bus to catch the train so that way he can leave immediately," she said, her voice growing more tired.

"Okay. Thank you Nan."

"You're welcome Nova. I love you."

Nova swallowed hard as realization hit. This could be the very last time she talked to the woman who raised and loved her for the past fifteen years. The tears she had just gotten to stopped poured out of her eyes this time.

"Nan. I will get to see you again one day... right? Or maybe I can talk to you on the phone once everything is safe?" Nova chocked out. She sounded like the little child that Natalie kept close in her memories.

"My sweet star, you know I can't lie to you. I don't think so, but we know better than anyone that the universe is full of surprises. But as of now, I can't know that we will see one another anymore. But I love you enough to last ten life times. Remember that my beautiful girl," Nan said back, her voice shaken by cries she was trying to hide.

Nova now sobbed. Nan had loved her, nursed her to health, fed her, taught her, protected her, and encouraged her. But now she was letting her go. To let her be able to do wonderful things, to connect with her family. After fifteen years of happiness and safety, it suddenly was over. Nova finally calmed her sobs so she could speak again, but she heard the dial tone.

Nan had hung up. She didn't want to make it anymore painful, but Nova didn't think it helped. Her heart hurt. Everything hurt. Her tears covered her cheeks and snot dripped onto her upper lip. It was hard to see from the swelling in her eyes, but she could see the stars from out of the kitchen window and something dawned on her.

 _"Remember my sweet star, there will be a time where our family is no more, but it is okay because we will still remain under the same sky. I will know each night that my little star that was plucked straight from space is on earth, being her wonderful self. And you can look at the sky each night and remember this. You and I, under the stars, staring at the twinkles that are stitched into your DNA.."_

Nan's words echoed in her head. Nova put the kitchen phone back on the receiver and wiped her face clean on Mulder's shirt. She climbed onto the kitchen counter and then sat on the edge of the sink. She pressed her hand to the cool glass of the window right above.

"Thank you for everything. I will love you for a hundred lifetimes," Nova whispered. The house was silent, almost if allowing the girl's message to pass through and out into the air, traveling to the one person Nova wanted at that moment.

Nova eventually leaned onto the wall and fell asleep sitting up almost, her hand still on the window. Scully had ventured out into the living room to check on the girl when she found her asleep on the counter. She ran to get Mulder.

They both went into the kitchen on either side of the girl.

"That's odd. I like this kid," Mulder said, smirking even though he was still tired.

"It's very strange. She could have an emotional problem. Then again, she is a homeless orphan so its more than likely that-" Scully got cut off again with her rationalizations.

"Can we just put her back on the couch so we can go to bed?" Mulder asked, rubbing his eyes. Scully gave him a look then sighed. She stepped aside so Mulder could pick up the small girl.

As soon as Mulder had her, she wrapped herself around him and snuggled her head onto his shoulder. Mulder stood still for a moment, wondering if the girl had done it by accident, but she stayed where she was.

"I think the kid likes you too," Scully smiled. Her heart hurt at the thought of William, but she was still trying to learn to push that away. For now, she enjoyed seeing Mulder with Nova, and even being able to help Nova herself.

They put the child back on the couch and covered her up. She looked so fragile. The world had beaten her up and left her for the worst, but here she was. Scully wanted to know more about her, but that would take a bit, she had already been through so much.

Scully looked once more at the girl. An odd feeling came over her. Nova seemed to be familiar, but Scully wasn't sure how. Almost as if she had seen her before. Then again, its possible she had. Still, she didn't feel that was it. Something was different about her, she just needed to find out what.

For now though, she enjoyed watching the small girl sleep. Her cheeks were wet, so she'd been crying, but there seemed to be a small smile on her face. She seemed to feel comfortable and so did the agents.

Mulder brought the quilt up and tucked it under her sides, swaddling her. Scully smiled and Mulder saw, so he tried to kiss it off her face, but that only made her laugh. Scully went to flip off the light switch, but looked back at the girl. Her red hair covered her bruised up face, but you could see she was feeling safe.

"Goodnight Nova," the agent whispered as if she had many nights before.


	6. Chapter Five

Nova chewed her bacon slowly, enjoying the grease at the corner of her mouth and the bits of meat getting stuck between her teeth. Her plate had been filled with bacon, eggs, slices of fresh fruit, and cinnamon toast. She hadn't had a home cooked meal since that final supper with Nan in their house.

 _Old house_ , Nova told herself. She couldn't allow herself to continue to refer to what was, only what would be. That was something William had always said over and over again. It had aggravated her, but he knew it would come in handy one day. He was always right about things like that.

Nova began to feel queasy and leaned back in her chair. She hadn't had such a heavy breakfast in such a long time. It may be a bit too much for now. Just as Nova was about to dump her plate into the trash and put it away, Scully came over.

"Are you all done?" she asked. Nova looked up at her and smiled. She nodded. Scully took the plate with a smile and scraped it clean. Mulder rejoined them in the kitchen.

"Are we all ready to go?" He asked, reaching for his keys. Scully crossed her arms.

"Ready to go where?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"Back to the trail where that sighting was. Its not raining anymore."

Scully had said they could look once it was light and it had cleared up, But she had really said that just so they would leave. The woman grabbed his arm and lead him away from Nova. This did nothing though, because Nova could hear them perfectly.

"We can't leave the house. We still know nothing about Nova. She needs to be our main concern right now Mulder," she whispered, her eyes stern.

Mulder smiled, finding her serious face adorable.

"We have to gain her trust. She isn't going to tell us anything unless we let her know we are on her side. Keeping her locked up in this house won't do that. If we take her out for the day, walk in the woods, take her to lunch, maybe you can even go and get her another outfit since her's was full of holes," he went on. He looked down at the woman with a grin. She groaned.

"Fine. But no interrogating about what she may have seen in the woods allowed!"

With that, Scully marched often to put on her shoes. Mulder walked over to Nova, who was sitting at the table still. Her hair was loose and curled like usual, and she wore her jeans, one of Scully's shirts, and her own jack and shoes.

Her bruises and rashes and cuts were more prominent today and there were dark circles under her eyes. Yet when she smiled at Mulder, she seemed radiant.

He leaned against the table and smiled back.

"We are gonna have a day out today. Scully is even going to take you to buy some new clothing."

Nova seemed to bounce in her chair. Going shopping with Scully for clothes? That was something mothers and daughters did all the time, and now she felt it was finally happening to her. She held back tears, knowing crying over something so simple would be odd to them.

Mulder smiled at her excitement. It felt nice to see her happy. A warmth filled his chest looking into her eyes. Her strangely familiar eyes.

"Hey. We have to go by the spot in the woods first to see if we can't solve a case that seems to be based there. You wouldn't have happened to see any-"

Scully popped out her head from their bedroom. She had just found the pair of shoes she was looking for from her moving boxes when she had heard him.

"Mulder!" She scolded. He winced, knowing he had been caught. Scully exited the room and flicked Mulder playfully on the ear.

Nova jokingly grimaced at their display of affection. She soon stopped though. She still wasn't overly hopeful when it came to her future. Whether her fight would get her what she's been told her whole life that she deserves. For now she had to cast doubt out, wait on her brother, and hope there was more home made breakfasts at a wooden table in the middle of the country in her future.

There were still several puddles over the trail and it felt like the weather was heading towards snow, but Mulder did not care. He walked into the foliage without blinking an eye. To Agent Scully's surprise, Nova was right behind him. Soon she trotted in front of him

"Its this way," she said, pointing to a path that had been stomped through. The agents stopped.

"What are you talking about?" Scully asked, eventually catching up to Mulder.

"I thought you wanted me to show you what I saw?" Nova looked confused. The man turned to the smaller woman beside him and smiled so wide his eyes squinted. Scully rolled her eyes and shoved the man's shoulder, encouraging him to follow the girl who was already walking ahead again.

It was another few minutes before they reached the clearing. Now that it was light, Nova could see the whole picture. There was a shallow hole that was shaped like a giant circle. Around the circle were logs, almost as if they were used as a seat to view whatever was usually in that circle. There were also candled littered among the hole.

"I saw a man here last night. He wore a dark cloak and I could only see his eyes, which were an odd color..."

Mulder had already jumped into the hole, so Scully and Nova watched as he poked around.

"What do you mean odd color?" Scully asked, watching the girl walk around.

"Purple almost, but it was how bright they were. Almost like they were black lights," she told Scully. Scully could see she was bothered by the thought of the man she saw.

"Could it have been contacts?" Mulder asked, pocketing one of the many candles in the dirt.

"No. It wasn't just the iris. It was the whole eye. It was just too bright..."

Mulder climbed out of the hole and brushed off his jacket. Scully took a step back.

"Mulder, is that blood on your shoes?" she whispered.

He looked down, bringing the shoe to his knee to investigate. There, covering the whole bottom portion of his shoe was stained scarlet. It was blood, and quite a bit of it.

"I am gonna call the team," Scully mumbled as she got out her phone.

Nova walked closer to Mulder.

"So there is a good bit of blood in that soil?" she asked. Mulder was taken back by her curiosity.

"Um, yeah. It seems like it."

"So this is some sort of sacrificial ritual?"

Mulder looked at the girl, then the area.

"There are candles and then the viewing benches, the blood, and the somewhat of an offering pit? Plus there was the fact that a man in a cloak was hanging around the bloody circle in the ground," she said.

Mulder smiled at Nova. She was very smart and seemed very interested in what was going on. She smiled back, her eyes bright. Thats when his chest began to hurt and the wind felt like it had been knocked out of him. He felt something when she looked at him, he just couldn't place why.

Her face changed though when she looked at a tree across from them. She ran over to what seemed like a cluster of foliage and vines, nudging it with her foot gently before completely kicking it away. She stepped back, revealing a hole, a shy smirk on her face.

"I saw something shiny," she said. She stood and waited for Mulder to join her, knowing she couldn't touch anything, especially without gloves. Mulder looked into the hole and saw a leather bound journal, three different silver tins, and a dark wooden box. Mulder looked down at the girl and messed up her hair playfully with his palm.

"Good job kid. Maybe one day you will grow up and work for the FBI," he said.

Nova had to stop herself from laughing.

Scully came back over, joining them near the hole. She looked down.

"Those tins look like offering plates churches use," she said, looking up at her partner.

"Wasn't there a church robbed about three weeks ago over on Elm?" he asked. Three weeks ago was when the first person was abducted, and when the first body appeared.

"I am going to take the car and go to the church to question them. I am going to take Nova with me. A 15 year old doesn't need to be hanging around a possible serial killer crime scene," she said, holding out her hand for the car keys.

Mulder handed them over, knowing she was right. Nova had been helpful, but it wasn't a wise idea to let her stay around and watch what the crime scene crews dig up, especially with the amount of blood still in the soil.

Nova followed behind Scully back on the trail towards the car when Mulder stopped them.

"I think this may be leading to an X-File which means I will need to pop by the office to sort through everything. How am I suppose to get there without my car?" He yelled back at the two who were almost out of hearing range.

Scully smirked at her presented opportunity.

"Ask one of the lab boys for a ride. Hopefully they won't be afraid to drive along side Spooky," she said with a wink, grabbing Nova's hand. He made a face in her direction. He couldn't stand that name, but it wasn't completely horrible coming from her.

"So how come you and Mr. Mulder have different names? Is it like a professional thing?" Nova asked. The girl was willing to speak, just not about her past. Scully hoped that would change, but for now she enjoyed her company.

"Me and Mulder aren't married. Just partners through work."

"Who live together and share a bedroom?" Nova asked. There was no sarcasm, just genuine confusion. Scully looked at the girl, and she gave a look back.

"I love Mulder. As far as I know, he loves me too. We don't want to get married though. We just want to be with one another," Scully said. She thought of the man she had met those 23 years ago.

They had discussed marriage. But they didn't feel the need. Scully had just moved in with Mulder not even three weeks ago. They just liked to be together. Right after William had gone to live with his new family, it was hard for them to even look at one another. But the older William got, the farther away from them he became, the more they realized how much they had missed one another.

Nova smiled and nodded. She was happy to see that all the things Nan had told Nova about them were caused her hope to increase and her daydreams of everyone together as a family to grow.

"So what exactly was stolen?" Scully asked, following the priest down a back hallway of the church.

"Odd thing is, it was mainly things we use in ceremony. The offering tins, the cross that starts and closes every service, prayer candles, and holy water. None of the church funds were touched," he replied. He felt a thump on his heel. The young girl the agent had brought in with her was glued to his side, a smile on her face.

She knew who he was. Father Steven Dominick. When William had been kidnapped by a cult, Richard had called his sister and told her to leave the house with Nova until things were safe again. They had no where to go, Nova was still sickly, and Nan felt everyone around her was there to take her baby.

Thats when Father Steven found them. He anointed the small child and even helped purchase clothing and furniture for the growing baby. He let them stay in a small attic of the bell tower of the chapel for a few months. It was right above their heads that Nova took her first steps.

She still carried the bible in her book bag that he had given her as a parting gift. It had her name on it. Her real name, as requested by Nan. Nova Katherine Scully engraved in a golden plate that was attached to the brown leather cover. She wondered if he would remember giving it to the babbling baby who sat in her foster mother's arms, singing a made up tune to a familiar friend she still recognized thanks to the keen memory she inherited from Mulder.

He grabbed the teenager's hand and smiled. She beamed. She walked hand in hand with the man who she hadn't spoken with, but didn't need to. Scully thought that it seemed like they knew one another.

"Would there be anyway to tell if a certain item came from your church?" Scully asked. The priest shook his head.

"Well. I think its safe to say they won't be returning to the church," Scully said. She didn't think that returning something used in a cult to a house of worship would be a good idea.

"It's okay. We have already contacted who we need to to get some new ones. It has been great seeing you again Dana. And it was very nice to meet you Nova," he said, shaking the girl's hand. She kissed his cheek and smiled back.

Scully was starting the car when she realized something.

"When did you tell him your name?" she asked, trying to remember. Nova grinned and looked out the window.

 _I didn't_ , she thought.


	7. Chapter Six

_**This is a long chapter! Which may or may not be the new trend for my chapters. Sorry about the wait and the length!**_

 _The two four year olds ran through the muddy yard, squealing with delight. The sound of nature emerging from it's hiding places to stay dry from the rain began mixing with the laughter, creating a deafening harmony of joy._

 _The boy had just moved to their little neighborhood on the quiet hill a year ago, the family looking to raise their son where there was no hustle and bustle of city issues. It was fate though that the Van De Kamps chose the one remaining cottage in the woods, next door to the single mother and only other child on the land._

 _They knew who the other was right away. It was a feeling in their hearts and just the same feeling as how they knew their own names. They knew they were twins. Just did. They were too young to be told the full story of where they came from or why they weren't with their actual mother and father, but they didn't mind. They were still four years old. All they wanted was to play and know why the Toothy Fairy bought teeth._

 _Today they chased each other through the mud, Nova still in her ballet outfit from her lesson earlier. She purposely stomped hard, splattering the itchy tutu and tights with dark mud. William made siren noises, telling the girl to pull over and return the cash. She wasn't sure when the chase had turned into Cops and Robbers._

 _She played along right away with no questions, like four year olds do. They both were muddy messes, lost in their own world of pretend. That is until Nova stopped, causing William to bump into her, almost knocking them both down._

 _William followed his sister's gaze to the tree line, where in the shadows stood a man. A tall man with black hair and strange clothing. William recognized them being similar to the army fatigues his toy solider wore, but this man had a badge with a shape neither child could recall being taught on morning cartoons._

 _He held a gun, a gun pointed straight at the children. The mud covered boy in overalls and a home made super hero cape with rain boots the same color. The muddy little girl in tiny pink ballet shoes, tights, a leotard, and a puffy tulle tutu, hair falling from her braids. They looked at each other, then the man._

 _The man starred into the big blue eyes of the happy, seemingly normal children. The children that reminded him of the son who's picture was in his front pants pocket. The gun shook in his hand. William looked to Nova, but she shook her head. It wasn't her doing it. They watched as the man looked behind him, then back at the children, before holstering his gun and darting into the trees..._

Nova helped carry the three large bags of clothing and shoes that Scully had just bought for her. Well. Scully paid for it all with some sort of secretive FBI debit card, since Nova was considered a protected witness and would be paid for by someone higher up. A large bill from a whole new wardrobe for the kid they stole and forced into the world? It was a start on the payback she was owed.

Nova had only packed two outfits with her from home, which William had said was a bad idea. She could only pack what she could carry on her back, and Nova wanted to carry memories rather than clothing for every season. She had always been more interested in collecting and keeping things she felt were connected to something special.

She packed her baby book, some items of Nan's, toys she and William shared, and a box packed with atleast 200 pictures. She had birthday cards, a quilt Nan made for her years ago that she had outgrown, her special handmade doll, some of Nan's favorite books.

There was also the items from the many extra activities Nan put her in. Piano, Ballet, Karate, Theater, Softball, and Scrapbooking. She also had everything she was brought to Nan with, so that way she would have more information for Scully when the time had her life in that backpack. She didn't want to forget her childhood, even if it was always just preparation for where she was now.

Scully had her change into one of her new outfits to be more comfortable. She was now wearing a red and white striped fitted tee and a pair of black overalls that fit her legs like skinny jeans. She finished to look with red Converse. Simple, comfortable, and color coordinated, Nova's favorite.

Scully took them to a small diner not far from the clothing store to have lunch. Nova ran and picked a booth near a window, waiting for the agent to join her. Nova seemed to display comfortable behavior, suggesting she felt safe with the agent. That little thought made Scully's chest warm. This little girl had a strange effect on her.

They both slowly ordered and ate their food, neither in a rush. Scully wanted to bring up something to talk about, but she wasn't sure what. She decided to let Nova bring up the first conversation. It was okay that it was silent as they dined though, both comfortable with just the feeling of company. It wasn't long though before Scully's phone rang.

"Scully, it's me," Mulder chimed before Scully could even take a breath.

"How is everything going?" she asked, just finishing a mouthful of burger.

"They found human remains. It's like they have been torn apart. They are retrieving pieces of arms and torso, different sizes and races."

Scully ushered for the waitress and silently asked for the check. She knew they would need her down at the lab.

"Can you tell how many different possible victims?" she asked, pulling her wallet out. Nova had suddenly become interested.

"At least ten. Also there have been bones, but those were stored in that hole Nova found so they could very well just be animal. Oh and we also found a hunting knife."

"A hunting knife?" Scully asked as she handed the check back to the waitress to scan her card. Nova was straining to hear the other side of the conversation, but music was playing in the restaurant and it was hard to push away those stupid catchy songs.

"Yeah its engraved with the letters 'N-A-L' and then 'For protection with my love'," Mulder quoted, examining the knife through the evidence bag.

"N-A-L could be our offenders initials and hopefully hold some fingerprints," Scully said as she signed the check. Nova sank into the booth, even though Scully was standing up to leave.

 _N-A-L: Natalie Alison Langly. Nan's knife._

Scully turned around and saw the girl still sitting in the booth. She held out her hand and smiled at her. Nova realized she needed to get up and pretend like everything was fine, so she took the woman's hand. She woman squeezed the girl's hand and continued her conversation with Mulder, but Nova heard nothing.

She must have dropped the knife when she was being chased by the man. The only finger prints would be hers. Running them through the FBI data system could flag her profile created when she was born. The people she had been hiding from all her life, who would more than likely still be hunting her, would get an easy email that she was right under their noses, in the hands of her unknowing parents.

Suddenly she jerked away from Scully and threw up in a public trashcan right outside the restaurant.

"Uh Mulder I gotta go. I will see you down at the office in about thirty minutes," she said, hanging up before Mulder could ask why. Scully pocketed the phone as she pulled back the red hair that framed the girls face.

She was shaking and sweat was pooling on her brow. She continued to heave into the trash can, even after her stomach had emptied.

"I think I may have had had too much good stuff too soon. My stomach is still sorta adjusting to being fed such nutrient packed meals," she managed to whisper out. She finally stood up straight. Scully saw she was pale and unsteady, her eyes worn.

A waitress had seen Nova become sick and brought her a to-go cup of tea to soothe her stomach and a wet rag. Scully cleaned up her face for her, noticing Nova's smile and how she closed her eyes. Scully wanted to kiss her poor little nose and wrap her up in a blanket.

Nova sipped on her tea as she rode through town with Scully. She shouldn't be anywhere near FBI headquarters. Now she was going to have to figure out how to walk around unnoticed as well as steal back her knife before any fingerprints could be lifted and run through their programs.

Maybe if she just stunt rolled out of the car and ran for the woods, she could run back to Wyoming. Will would have missed the bus and she could call him and tell him to stay because she's coming back home. She could run back into Nan's arms and back to the quiet life in the woods atop the hill she'd called home.

That would also mean that her mom and dad would only be in her life through stories and news articles. Her and William would grow up without spending a birthday or a Christmas in the loving arms of their parents. Scully and Mulder would spend their lives without seeing their son again, and without knowing the girl they took in was actually their daughter. There was also the peace that both Nova and Will held within them that would be turned into a weapon soon enough if not helped.

"Nova?"

The girl sucked on her straw, tea flying to the back of her throat, causing her to choke. She coughed for a moment before clearing her throat and looking to the agent.

Scully took a moment to make sure the girl didn't have any coughs left in her before she unbuckled.

"Mulder is inside. We are going to spend a little bit of time here, but we are gonna be in the basement so maybe you can rest a bit," she said, adjusting things and unlatching the door.

"The basement?" Nova asked.

"That is where Mr. Mulder and I work," she said with a smile. Nova knew there was more there, but knew it wasn't the time for questions.

Nova went to pick up her bag, but Scully stopped her.

"Security won't let you bring in your backpack. It's too big. It will be safe in the car though."

Nova looked down at her pack. Everything she owned was in there. It held numerous federal secrets, memories, and there were things dealing with national security among cookie crumbs.

She knew she couldn't bring it or else it would be searched, so she pushed it as far under the dash as it would fit before following Scully out of the car. She looked up at the building across from the parking lot. A wave of emotions filled her.

She was created in that building, like someone's freaky science fair project. They stole someone's DNA and smashed it together at the same time it was being smashed together inside her mother. She was forced into a woman who was stolen from the street and doctored into an incubator that wouldn't transfer genes, just to allow some place for their creature to grow under observation.

She came into existence inside a person who no longer had any life left in her other than the machines that kept her body systems functioning and in perfect health to support the fetus inside her womb. She was never sang to or felt the loving caress of her mother's hand through her stretching skin. Her brother, split from the same ova, lived in their mother. Heard her heartbeat from the inside. He felt her love and warmth as she brought him into the world, every part of her dripping with her admiration from the small child that was hers.

Not Nova. Just constant cameras and needles and the hands of examiners. Her birth was just as meaningless as Scully was tracked down during birth not for the abduction of her son, but for the start of the C-Section for her daughter. Nova couldn't make her own appearance. They had to keep to their plans. She was cut out and tested and poked and nearly killed. It all happened here. The cause of so much turmoil in her short life, and she was walking right back into it.

Suddenly Scully grabbed her hand. She looked at her, surprised.

"Are you okay Nova?" she asked, her face automatically clouded with concern. Nova didn't understand at first, until she tasted salt and realized tears were trailing down her cheeks and into her mouth. She wiped them away quickly with her other hand.

"Yes. I'm okay," she replied with a sheepish grin.

Scully smiled and pulled the little girl in to wrap her arm around her, bringing her close. Nova took in the smell of her Mom. A smell she would have learned by now with the hugs and Scully carrying her around as a small child. She could picture it so vividly. Now it was coming true, and thats what gave her the confidence to walk in the building, allow herself to be searched for security and given a visitors pass.

Being with her Mom made her feel stronger than she was and she wouldn't allow them to take away anymore from her.

They got lots of looks at the walked through the halls. Some were at Nova, others were at Scully, but those people seemed to find her presence amusing for some reason. One whistled a strange tune that looked to aggravate Scully.

They finally made it to the elevator, which was unfortunately packed with people. Nova groaned before she realized there was a police dog among them. The pooch automatically became very excited, even as his handler commanded him to obey.

Nova ignored this until the man was becoming jerky with the animal, in which Nova placed a kiss on the dogs nose and gave him a look. He sat and calmed down automatically. Everyone looked at the girl strangely.

"I like dogs," she whispered before stepping close to Scully. They went back to their own thoughts and Nova gave the dog a wink and he wagged his tail in response.

A final man carrying a box stepped onto the elevator before the doors shut. He smiled at Nova then turned to Scully.

"Is she the kiddo Mulder was talking about?" the man asked.

A hot excitement bubbled through Nova, so much that she twitched. Mulder had talked about her. Her Daddy.

"Yeah this is her," Scully said as she ruffled her hair, "She is gonna stay with us for a bit."

 _Hopefully forever_ , Nova thought.

"Is that the box of evidence from our case?" Scully asked. The man nodded.

"A lot of weird things. Mulder suggested some sort of exorcism," he laughed. Scully smiled nervously, knowing that Mulder was just that way.

Nova had blocked out their conversation upon realization of what the man was holding. She knew her knife was in there, and it only took a moment for her to catch the glint of the shiny ivory handle. She knew what she needed to do.

She looked at her new furry friend and made sure she was in line with the elevator buttons. She looked into the animal's brown eyes and thought before she whistled. The dog lunged forward, knocking the man right in the back on his knees, causing them to buckle.

Nova punched the power button and jumped to hit the floor, searching for the proper baggy. She was a bit enhanced when it came to her senses, so seeing in the dark was no problem, just being quiet about it.

She dogged the man's hands that were scrambling to gather the evidence and watched Scully struggle to find the power switch, but she still managed to find the bag. She knew she had to conceal it, but there were no pockets on her overalls, which she silently cursed.

That left her with two options: Bra or panties. They were the only two clothing with some elastic to support it. She chose to carefully slip it in the leg of her underwear, The blade protected by the plastic, laying on the outside of her thigh, like a hidden weapon in a bad ass movie.

She watched as Scully found the power button, so Nova laid out flat on the floor. The lights came on to baggies all over the tiny cube, the German Shepard crouched and ready to play, and Nova pretending she had been knocked over.

"Are you alright?" the man asked Nova, assuming she had fallen too, which is what she was going for. She nodded and smiled and even helped pick up the baggies. No one noticed not everything was there or that Nova didn't move her right leg much.

Nova stayed close to her mother, seeing the stares and eyes following the two as they walked to the office. They noticed the similarities, so Nova just scooted closer and held her face down. Scully didn't mind a bit, appreciating the closeness and assuming it was just Nova being shy.

They eventually reached Mulder's door and pushed it open. He of course had a manila file open, older photographs right beside it on his desk. He looked up and smiled at the two.

"Look who has clothes that fit!" He joked. The girl smiled and a pang of glee spread through him. He liked that smile, especially if he caused it. She stuck close to Scully still, obviously uncomfortable in this new place.

"You have a desk in Mulder's office?" She asked Scully.

"This is our shared office," Mulder said, confused.

Nova gave a similar look back to Mulder.

"Where is her name plate? On the door. Did someone take it?" she questioned again, naturally curious. Scully had to hold back a giggle.

"I've never had one. They've never gotten around to it," she said, giving a playful sass in her tone.

"After two decades? That's stupid," she said, finding a chair near a filling cabinet.

Scully and Mulder both looked at one another. They never told the girl how long they'd be with the FBI. Nova automatically picked up on the shift in the room and realized her mistake.

Thankfully before Nova had to stutter out an explanation at her knowledge of the amount of time they'd worked here, a man came in. He didn't knock, so Nova knew he must be important.

"Scully, all of the remains are in the lab and ready whenever you are," he said. He turned his head and spotted Nova and smiled.

"Is this the witness you guys have taken in?"

The two agents nodded and looked to the girl with a smile. He looked at them and back at Nova.

"She could pass as your kid!" He laughed. All their faces fell, all for different reasons. The man noticed and cleared his throat.

"Just don't fill her head with too much alien crap. She may be with you for a while, if that's alright."

Nova looked to her parents, unknowing that their answer could make or shatter her life completely. It doesn't take even a second for their smiles to reappear.

"Of course not," Mulder said as he got up and ruffled the girls hair.

"We adore her company," Scully said.

Nova smiled so big her eyes stung. They didn't know her, or feel much for her, but she had waited her whole life to meet them and be able to love them like a daughter loves her father and mother.

Scully stood up and stopped at Nova.

"I have to go do some inspection of what they found. I will be back later. No touching expensive stuff, Mulder is enough trouble around here as is," she said. She smiled and Nova giggled. Scully took a long look at her, bright blue eyes and red hair. A special light in her eyes. A wise soul and story that Scully wanted to know. She knew she would soon enough.

After Scully left with the man who didn't introduce himself (Nova didn't appreciate that), Mulder got up and looked out the door. He looked down the hallway and then at the girl.

"Wanna see something cool?" he asked, her brother's same smirk on his face, that soon grew to hers.

She'd dreamed of the first time she'd get into some sort of Mulder-esque trouble with her Dad as her guide. She jumped up and was at his side in less time than it took to make sure the hallway was Scully clear.


	8. Chapter Seven

**_Sorry for the break! I went to camp as a dance teacher and I was away from my laptop for quite a bit. Also, this chapter felt a little stale to me so it took a while to make it acceptable, so please forgive me!_**

"HEY BRANDON," Mulder yelled, his voice booming as he reached one of the hallway's corners. The unsuspecting young security guard that stood there jumped, nearly coming out of his clothes.

"Hello Agent Mulder," he grumbled, obviously aggravated by the surprise of the young girl and older man, both looking at one another and suppressing giggles.

They were heading to the lab, which would be a secret from Scully because she wouldn't have wanted Nova there and Mulder wasn't really allowed in there by himself.

Mulder had told Nova about Brandon and how easy he was to scare, being one of the newer security guards as well as working right down the hall from Spooky Mulder.

"Brandon, this is Nova," Mulder said, introducing the young boy to the girl. Nova's smile faded for a moment. She didn't want too many people inside the building to know who she was. All it took was for the right person to hear her name...

Brandon stuck out his hand, causing Nova to flinch. She wasn't sure why she reacted like that and was a tad embarrassed, showing on her cheeks a bit. Mulder wrapped his arm around her, squeezing her a bit. She smiled, then turned to Brandon and shook his hand. He seemed pleased, his grip strong.

"Nice to meet you," he said. His posture straightened and his smile began dripping with boyish charm. They all stayed like this for a moment, silent, before Brandon nodded to Fox, letting him know he was getting back to his job. Mulder got the hint and pulled the girl along. Nova looked back, the young man still having his eyes locked on the girl and he winked.

Mulder saw this and hurried Nova along. Nova noticed he seemed uncomfortable with Brandon's display of interest towards her. A smile crept across her face.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked, continuing to walk down the hall towards the elevator.

"You didn't seem to like when Brandon smiled at me and I found that funny is all," she replied, making sure he knew it wasn't due to the fact that she found Brandon's attempts at empty interest tempting or the least bit appealing.

"He's so dehydrated," Mulder groaned, waving his hand a bit for dramatics. Nova stared at him for a moment as they waited for their lift from the basement. She didn't understand what he meant at first, but then it dawned on her.

"Mr. Mulder, do you mean he's _thirsty_?"

"That may be it. He hits on Scully sometimes too. Gross," he mumbled more to himself than to Nova.

"That's why you scare him? Because you want him to know you are in love with ?"

The question caught Mulder off guard, which was hard to do after this many years in the FBI. She asked it with the simplistic curiosity of a child, yet the seriousness of a courtroom lawyer. She really wanted to know.

Before he could come up with a good answer, the elevator doors opened and there was an older man who did not look exactly happy to see them.

"Oh Skinner," Mulder said with a sigh of relief.

"Mulder, Scully needs you back upstairs. Another girl has gone missing," the man didn't seem to want to be in the basement.

"Alright sounds good," he responded while getting in the elevator, Nova behind him.

"Oh Skinner, this is Nova. The young girl Scully and I found and are watching after during this case."

Nova smiled sweetly at the older man, he seemed to study over her. Her smile faded at the fear that he was comparing her to her unknowing parents. That he would say something. But thankfully he didn't, he just held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Let me know if Mulder scares you," he said, eyeing him. Mulder smiled his special grin and Skinner seemed to growl at him. No one said a word the rest of the ride to the ground floor. Mulder saw that Scully was in front of the building, waving at them.

Mulder smiled and grabbed Nova's shoulder.

"He really is a big teddy bear once you get to know him," Mulder said, talking about Skinner.

Nova looked back at the man and saw him smile at her. She smiled back at him but could swear he winked at her through the small opening of the closing metal doors.

* * *

"April Jeckler. 19. Average build and height. Red hair, blue eyes. Last seen going on an early morning jog, was reported missing by her mother when she failed to return this afternoon." Scully read all the information from her phone, scrolling through large portions of text.

Mulder was pushing the speed limit by a good amount, trying to make it to the girl's house quickly. Scully looked at him nervously, seeing his discomfort. She looked back at the girl, more or less to ensure that her seat belt was snug.

Nova knew why he was upset. A girl suddenly disappearing must have been bringing up thoughts of his sister. Nan had told Nova a little about her. She had gone missing at a very young age, right under Mulder's nose. It what had gotten him into the paranormal, basically shaping his whole future of what he would do and who he would be.

They turned onto a dirt road, the car bumping on the uneven terrain, causing them all to bop around.

"Mulder slow down before you give us head trauma!" Scully chirped, clutching her own safety belt.

Mulder seemed to snap back and took his foot from the gas quickly. The car lurched at the sudden loss of acceleration, but continued to roll down the road. Eventually he applied his foot to the gas again and they made it to the house without any injuries. No one asked questions, which Mulder was thankful for.

* * *

The adults sat on the front porch, Mulder and Scully asking the mother and father questions and taking notes. Nova had no interest in it, especially when a German Sheppard came leaping out of the door along with April's parents. They lived on some sort of lake and had a huge yard, so Nova had no trouble keeping herself busy.

Scully could hear her laughing. A high pitched laughter that reminded her of wind chimes that would tingle with the redeeming breeze on hot summer afternoons at her grandmother's house. A laughter that had so much ease seeping its way into the part of her brain where important memories were kept.

Scully tried tuning back into the investigation.

"Now these men that knocked on your door, what did they look like?" Mulder asked, voice smooth.

"They were wearing sunglasses, even though it was night. They were wearing suits sort of like the Men in Black movie. They're voices were weird. They had asked if we had seen a red haired teenage girl around. I joked saying we kept one hidden in the house. They looked behind me and saw April. After that they looked at each other and said they had to go," she said. There were tears on the brim of her eyes and the husband squeezed her hand.

"Did they say who they were?" Scully asked. The father shook his head.

"Not really. They looked official. Now that you mention it, they never showed me a badge. I should have asked..."

The tears that had sat in the woman's eyes now spilled out onto her cheeks. Her husband cradled her crumpled form, rubbing her back.

"Honey, you didn't know. It's not your fault," he whispered. The woman continued to cry and was no longer coherent.

Scully and Mulder shifted in their chairs, uncomfortable. Thankfully the laughter of the girl in the yard being chased by the happy dog brought them some place calm for just a moment.

Unfortunately it was then that Nova noticed the men in ski masks and black clothing, carrying strange guns. Guns that were meant to stun rather than wound.

She knew immediately they were there for her. To retrieve her and bring her back. Someone knew it was her. Knew what she was and the threat against them she held. The dog sensed her unease and immediately began growling, standing in front of her ready to pounce. Nova began to walk backwards, towards what she hoped was foliage to cover her.

The adult immediately sensed the tension, their ears tuning into the lack of laughter and intense growls. The two agents immediately jumped up, their guns drawn. They watched as Nova began backing onto the pier, almost dazed.

Mulder and Scully followed her stare to two men, just as they broke the tree line and darted towards the girl and the dog. They had their own guns drawn, ready to shoot out the electric prongs to bring their target to their knees.

"Nova!" Scully yelled, carefully making her way down the steps, panic flooding her. A strong sense of protection came over her, so intense she felt she would vomit.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. One of them advanced, releasing the electric surge into the dog. It seemed frozen as it dropped to the ground, shaking. It would be okay, but now Nova was left unprotected.

The girl looked up, fear in her eyes, tears lining down her face. She continued to walk backwards, her gaze shifting from Scully and the man who was only feet from reaching the pier. She began to mumble something, but no noise came out.

There was silence as Scully and Mulder quickly approached the pier. They thought they could make it, but the man made it there before them, quickly approaching as he locked his finger on the trigger.

Scully and Nova locked eyes once again and a terrifying noise came out of the pink lips of the scared girl.

"Mom!" she screamed as she fell back into the now black water. Mulder didn't hesitate to shoot the man, bringing him down before he could go after the girl in the lake.

The agents ran the short distance to the pier. They looked over, expecting to see the girl, but all there was was water. Before Scully could understand what to do next, Mulder soared into the water, suit and all.

Scully watched terrified as there was no moment when suddenly something hit her.

Nova called me Mom

She felt something odd. Not that Nova had looked at her and called her mom, that felt natural. Maybe that was what was strange. That Nova calling Scully mom felt like nothing out of the usual, as if she had done it for 15 years. She knew it may just be Nova calling out for her mother, where ever she was and who ever she was, in a moment of fear. But it didn't feel like that was the case. That it wasn't the truth.

Suddenly Mulder broke up from the water's edge, a limp body in tow. Mulder was gasping for air as he pushed the soaking girl onto the pier. Scully couldn't worry about Mulder at this point, only Nova.

She flipped her over and onto her back. As soon as Scully laid her on her knees, she coughed up a large amount of water, her eyes closed tight. She was shaking and sobbing.

Scully wasn't sure if Mulder was speaking because she couldn't hear him. Her heartbeat was deafening in her ears. The last time she had been this scared was the day she handed over her son. Her heart felt shattered in a strange way, but seeing Nova lay on her lap, breathing and pink seemed to rebuild it.

Scully wiped the water from her face and let out a strangled laugh. She would be okay.

Nova eventually realized who was there and she began to sob, grasping for the woman.

"I can't swim. I can't swim." she cried, shaking.

Scully held her close and shushed her. Nova clung to the agent so tightly and cried into her now soaked blouse.

"It's okay Nova. I got you. You will be alright," she cooed. She began to rock slightly, hoping it would calm the girl before she cried herself into an attack.

The crying dulled and there was the sound of sirens breaking over the trees. Mulder must have called for help when Scully was focused on Nova. One of the men had gotten away, but one laid on the pier, bleeding from his leg. Mulder stood over him as the police cars and ambulances pulled in. One paramedic took Nova to the truck and laid her down on the stretcher. Scully sat beside her.

"Scully?" she whispered, coughing up more fluid. Scully wiped that away.

"Yes Nova?"

"Promise you won't leave me."

Scully looked at the girl who was scared and vulnerable.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I don't want to leave you. I don't want someone to take me away. I want to stay with you. Please let me stay with you," she pleaded. Her lip trembled and new tears streamed down her cheeks. Scully's eyes began to burn. She nodded weakly though.

"You are staying with us to keep you safe. I am unsure what will happen after this case is solved and the bad men are in jail, but until then you will be with us," she said, weak. She'd only known Nova for three days, but it seemed like a lifetime had been lost between them. She liked the girl very much.

The ambulance driver gave clearance to take Nova back to headquarters, giving her a blanket to keep warm. Nova felt so broken. She had called out to her mother and she didn't even know. She heard her cry, but didn't do anything because she couldn't. She can't because she doesn't know she is her daughter. She didn't grow in her belly like her precious son, but she shared her genes, her blood. Would that be enough?

She sat in the car, wrapped in a scratchy blanket, so small compared to the rest of the world. Her red hair stuck to her face, dripping wet and mixing with her tears. She wasn't Scully's daughter. She was a product of a tiny piece of her. She was someones successful big boy science fair project. Made in a lab, a made to order solider.

She knew she wouldn't stay. Scully couldn't love her. Mulder couldn't love her. Once William came, she would leave. Go work on a farm and have some cows. Maybe be something acceptable and do some good in the world.

She looked at her parents, talking to the girls parents in the yard. Mulder looked back and smiled at the girl. She wanted to punch him. Not because he was bad, but even a shared smile hurt her heart beyond relief. She smiled back though. She loved him still.

She sighed and wrote a mental note. William would arrive in two days and she would help him get settled and reconnect with their mom and dad, but after that she would ditch it. Why add a rotten apple to your pie if its already perfect? Nova was the rotten apple, and her act of love for her family was to leave them.


	9. Chapter Eight

**_Thank you for all the kind comments! I know these few chapters have been fluffy, but its all for good reason! Thank you for every read, fav, and follow! I read every review and message I get! Thank you so much. It means a lot to me that people like Nova, because I love her so very much!_**

 _The sun was shrinking behind the clouds that loomed from over the hills. William walked, still in uniform, to the main building of the girls school. He saw a slouched form on a concrete bench by the door. He walked towards it, his feet now crunching the gravel from the walkway. The form looked up to reveal red swollen eyes and a snotty nose. Nova saw it was her brother and scooted to one side of the bench to make room for him. They sat for a moment in silence before Nova answered the question he hadn't asked._

 _"They called me dumpster baby again and yanked my shirt. I just wanted to enjoy my free time in peace outside, but they found me. They pushed me and made me kneel on the rocks," Nova whispered. She pulled her school skirt up to reveal bloodied and bruised knees. There was still a pebble embedded into her pale skin and he brushed it away._

 _He didn't ask who, because he knew. Tina, Courtney, and Elisa. It was always them. Nova always joked that one thing about growing up in the same place your whole life is that you never had to make new enemies. There was a painful truth to it._

 _"Will. What if they are right? What if I am a dumpster baby... Just in reality a lab baby? Mom and Dad... They held you. Kissed you. Wished for you. I was made by parts of their body that were stolen from them. Grown in the doctored womb of a women who just wanted a place to sleep, but was instead stuffed with an alien human hybrid virus. What if The Lone Gunmen made a mistake taking me? Maybe I was meant to die in that lab..."_

 _William immediately took his sister's shoulders._

 _"Nova, you test with a genius IQ, yet you say some of the stupidest things sometimes. Mom and Dad will not care how you came to be, only that you are theirs and that you are here. You are their child. You look and act like them. And you have the biggest heart, just like them too. Nova, you were born in a lab, but you are so much more than that. You are kind and creative and sassy and peaceful. You hold part of the key to a better future for the whole world. Courtney can't even say her own name without approval from Tina. You are more than they could ever be. You are alive and there is no doubt that you are nothing less than amazing. Mom and Dad will love you more than words."_

 _Another tear fell, but it splashed on her risen cheek that was now rounded by her smile. She wrapped her arms around her brother and hugged him tight. He was an asshole and annoying like any brother sometimes, but he was her other half._

 _A thunder clap made them both jump and they looked up to see the clouds had grown dark fast. Neither liked thunderstorms and Nova picked up her bag and began to fast walk along with her brother off school grounds and up towards the hill top community they called home. A small drizzle began to fall and the two linked hands as they ran through the seemingly empty town. Nova looked over to her brother, who looked back at her. His encouraging grin and tight grip helped her soar and feel that maybe they would not conquer the world, but calm it._

* * *

Nova nibbled on a ham and cheese sandwich that Brandon had gotten her from somewhere upstairs as she sat in Mulder and Scully's office. Thankfully the clothes Scully purchased for the girl were still in the car and she changed in a simple tee shirt and jeans. Unfortunately her hair was still wet and chilled her, so she shivered on and off.

She was sitting at Scully's desk. Brandon was posted outside the door for her protection as Mulder and Scully looked for the remaining man. Thankfully it turned out that the men weren't with the FBI and were rather apart of the cult that she had run into three days prior and had taken the other girl. The man who was still in the hospital for a gun shot wound refused to speak and only said "In the name of the Witness, my silence is sworn" to every question that was asked.

Nova sat, her sandwich laying on the plate half eaten. She sighed and looked around. Scullys desk was clean with no sign of anything out of place and nothing to decorate her space. Mulder's side on the other hand wasn't quite as kept and had an UFO poster. Also the ceiling had dozens of tiny holes right above his seat and she could only wonder what the cause of them were.

She was bored. Brandon had to remain outside and Nova wasn't allowed to be with her parents during the investigation anymore after the almost abduction/drowning incident. She groaned and let her face fall to the desk. Her face fell a little harder than expected and it smacked into the surface causing the drawer to her right to open slightly.

Nova could see papers, but also the edge of a piece of shiny paper. She knew it was a picture. It felt wrong to open the drawer, but a part of her had to know. She pulled the shiny handle and there laid a picture of a baby. A baby she knew better than anyone on the earth.

She picked up the tiny picture of her brother. This was the first one she had seen, but it felt like a punch in the chest that she had received many times. A hot growing anger bubbled up inside her and she had the urge to tear the picture to shreds. To dismantle everything it represented. Why should he be loved and not her?

She put it down though and instead reached for her pack. She had to dig, but eventually found the box she needed and put it to the side and removed the lid. She reached into the section she had organized into the "Early Times" tab and pulled out the first one. Tiny William and Tiny Nova napped on the floor in a homemade fort, wrapped in each others arms. They understood what they were to one another and loved each other without question.

Nova remembered that day. Their first sleepover. William's mother was babysitting Nova and it was the best day ever. It was their very first picture together and it had always been her favorite, even to this day. Every time she looked at it, she felt that nothing was different about them. Just two kids who had tired themselves out through playing pretend and eating sleep-over designated junk.

Next she pulled out a baby picture of herself around the same time of the one her mother kept of her brother. They looked so much alike that no one could say they didn't appear blue eyes, chubby cheeks, straight shiny red hair that had just started to form on their little heads.

Nova turned it over and saw that Nan had wrote 'Nova, 6 months' on the back. Nan loved to keep track of everything with Nova's development and life. She took pride in the girl and the life she witnessed with her.

Nova took the picture and placed it in the back of the drawer, right under an envelope. Now her mom had a picture of her too. She could imagine Scully pulling it out when she missed her like she was sure she did with William's.

She could hear Scully and Mulder step off the elevator down the hall. They were approaching fast, their steps quick. She threw William's picture back in the drawer and closed it and swiped the whole box of pictures back into her backpack. They dumped into the bottom, as she had forgotten to replace the lip. She felt a scream in her throat but pushed it down and zipped it up.

She just began to fiddle with her sandwich when the door opened and the two agents entered. They rushed through the door but seemed to slow when they saw the girl was fine. They both smiled, but Nova felt no energy to return the favor.

"Um so we talked to Mr. Skinner, the man we ran into earlier," Mulder started, stepping towards the desk. Nova nodded, recalling the man's smile.

"He said you could continue to stay with me and Scully, through the investigation... and uh," Mulder drifted off.

"You are going to stay with us until all the men are in jail, which could take a while. You're under witness protection and they allowed us to be your legal guardians. So you don't have to leave anytime soon," Scully said. She kept her promise.

Nova leaped from the chair and embraced Scully. She was a bit taller than her mother, but she felt so small at that moment. Nan had told her every morning and every night that her parents would have a love for her immediately, but she never believed it. But maybe this was the start of that, keeping promises.

Scully felt a deep warmth flow through her that felt so familiar and she enjoyed it. Suddenly her phone rang, and Nova let go. She had stray happy tears that she wiped away. Scully answered the phone as she watched Nova skip to Mulder and hug him as well, laughing and joking about Brandon or something of the sort.

"Scully," she stated as she answered the phone.

"Scully its Skinner. We just received a video. Its April and it seems to be a demands video. You and Mulder need to come upstairs and examine it," He said flatly. She could hear what sounded like muffled cries in the back, more than likely from the video.

"Okay, we are heading up now," she said. She hung up and groaned. She had already walked upstairs four times today.

"Mulder, there has been a message sent from the group. We have to go back upstairs," she said, already at the door.

Mulder ruffled Nova's wet hair and walked into the doorway.

"Remind me why this is an X-File problem again?" Scully asked, opening the door.

"Well it started back in 1897 when men with supposed glowing eyes were caught drinking the blood of a murdered towns child..."

Mulder's voice drifted away as the door closed and their steps padded down the hallway. Nova didn't notice though as she did a happy dance around the cramped space.

Scully had asked for her to stay. She doesn't want her to leave! Nova was so excited. Yeah, she felt that leaving still may be the best option, but maybe after she had gotten to stay a while with her actual family. She would regret it if she didn't get to know them as a whole. The Scully's and a Mulder. Her family.

She giggled at the thought, but it was interrupted when a loud bang came from outside the door. Garbled speech was heard, but quickly cut off with another thud. The steps became loud and quick and suddenly the door to the office was kicked in.

"What the hell?!" Nova screamed as two men who looked like the people who carted dead bodies came in along with a black stretcher. She knew though. They weren't Corpse Cops.

She jumped onto the desk, but slipped on some papers, causing her to tumble off and knock herself hard against the floor. The sudden pop in her shoulder made her gasp. She looked around for something to use but only saw Brandon in the hall, twitching. He'd been stunned.

It was them. They had managed to find a way in. Were they after her because of running into someone from their cult? She would say she hadn't said anything, but she already had. There would be no convincing them.

She pushed herself up just as one man grabbed her. She awaited the sting of voltage to course through her body but instead felt the hot prick of a needle. She looked over to see a syringe emptied into her bicep. Her head began to swim.

She couldn't think. It was as if everything in her body was made of tar. She looked at the men as they picked her up and placed her into the body bag that was located on the gurney they had somehow brought with them.

"You. Suck," she whispered as she heard the zipper of the bag approach her face. She wasn't sure due to how blurry everything seemed, but she swore she saw one man grin. Just after that, her world went black, the black body bag closing on her consciousness. She had just been kidnapped by a cult and was pretty guaranteed dead just after moving a step further with her Mom and Dad. Even in her drugged coma, she was pissed.


	10. Chapter Nine

**_WARNING! POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNINGS! This is a VERY dark chapter. It talks about wanting to commit suicide, the suggestion of the death of an animal, and quite a bit of violence. It is all important stuff, but I am going through something at the moment and it reflects with the wording I choose. Hopefully its not too much for anyone. If it is, message me! Thank you for reading!_**

 _William and Nova sat on the old bench, piano open and their new song laid in front of them. It supposedly meant something to their mother, and they wanted it to mean something to them too. William laid his fingers on the keys, his small hands dancing on the ivory as he began the melody and their tiny voices sang out ..._

 _"Somewhere beyond the stars_

 _Somewhere waiting for me_

 _Momma stands with open arms_

 _And Daddy daydreams about what will be_

 _Somewhere beyond the stars_

 _They're there watching for me_

 _I wish I could fly like comets through galaxies_

 _Then straight to their arms_

 _I'd go searching_

 _It's far beyond the seas_

 _And It's far beyond the moon_

 _I know beyond a doubt_

 _My heart will lead me there soon_

 _We'll meet under the night sky_

 _We'll kiss like there was no leave_

 _Happy we'll be beyond the stars_

 _And never again I'll go searching_

 _I know beyond a doubt, ah_

 _My heart will lead me there soon_

 _We'll meet (I know we'll meet) beyond the moon_

 _We'll kiss like there was no leave_

 _Happy we'll be beyond the stars_

 _And never again I'll go searching_

 _No more searching_

 _So long searching_

 _Bye bye searching..."_

Nova looked over to her brother, giggling and happy with what they had accomplished, but he wasn't the same. He was gray, and his face slacked. He no longer sat with piano posture and his hands laid dangling on the keys that had somehow cracked.

He moved his mouth, but it only gurgled. Nova leaned closer shakily, needing to hear what her brother was saying but as her ear reached a close distance he screamed.

"WAKE UP!" his voice ringed in her ears as he slammed on the piano and the world shattered.

Nova screamed and opened her eyes. She wasn't back at the piano and her brother's scream wasn't real. She looked at her surroundings trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

She was covered in sweat and sore, feeling as if she had been hit over the head with something heavy. That's when she remembered.

She'd been kidnapped.

Nova began to panic as she realized she sat in some type of fancy chair, restrained by ropes similar to those found at the crime scenes. She was in a dirt dug out circle that was dimly lit and covered by some sort of large burlap tent.

There were string lights and candles around an alter with more offering plates and a large cloth scroll. Nova couldn't see what was inside and she desperately wanted to keep it that way.

Suddenly she felt movement behind her and she screamed.

"Would you shut up?!" A voice hissed from behind her, causing her to jump.

She craned her neck around to see there was a chair behind her that she hadn't noticed somehow. She was in the center of the room and was still a little loopy, but there was someone almost tied to her and she didn't even notice. What in the hell had they drugged her with?

It was hard in the light of the string lights that barely fought off the nighttime darkness, but Nova recognized her.

She was tied to the missing girl, April.

"April?" Nova asked, her voice hoarse. The girl's eyebrow rose.

"How do you know me?" She asked. She seemed angry, which didn't make much sense to Nova.

"Well, I was sort with the people who are trying to find you."

Nova thought of her mom and dad, what they were doing. If they were upset that she had been taken or if they even knew, their lives always so busy...

"Well thats rich!" April growled, cutting off Nova's thoughts. Now it was Nova's turn to be snippy.

"What exactly do you mean?" she whispered, making sure her voice was low but still pissy sounding.

"The only reason they took me is because they thought I was YOU! If you hadn't stomped into whatever twisted shit they were doing, I wouldn't be here! But now that I am, I have to die too!"

Nova knew that if the girl wasn't restrained, that she'd probably punch her. But Nova looked over the girl and other than having red hair and blue eyes, they looked nothing alike. April was super tall and had tanned skin. Her face was thin and pointy and her hair was even cut just below her ears. Nova was almost the complete opposite.

That wasn't Nova's fault though. It was dark and all of the sudden she ran into a man with neon eyes and then crashed into her parents who pointed guns at her. Nova felt it was rather rude.

"I am not the one who tied us up! I did not give them directions to your house and say 'Okay go get this bitch'. I don't want to be here. I don't want to die! I just started getting everything how it should be..."

April looked at her and her expression softened a bit. She knew it wasn't their fault that either of them were here. She sat back straight in her chair and sighed, releasing them dams and crying.

"I don't know much, but I do know that we aren't going to be let go. They are sacrificing us to someone called the Witness," April let out between quiet sobs.

Nova still felt like she had been sat on by an elephant, but her mind began to work. She wiggled, uncomfortable and it felt like something was stuck to her thigh and it made her cringe.

Wait. Her thigh.

It was the bag with the knife! It had stayed on even after she fell in the water. She noted she would need bigger underwear because they were too tight due to her increase of muscle mass, but she would worry about that when she wasn't about to be sacrificed to someone that sounded like it came from a Stephan King book.

Nova wiggled her fingers and wrists, but her hands were tightly bound to the arms of the chairs. She couldn't reach it. She knew what that meant.

She had a migraine and the plastic bag may have been a problem, but it was their only hope. She counted on the unique ability that she had had since she was young, always forced to hide, dangerous as Nan put it. But William had helped her perfect it.

Nova focused on the knife. The marble handle with the cursive engraving. How she could see her reflection in it on those early mornings of preparing food during her days of travel. How it felt when she carved up branches to catch fish.

Nova felt the bag moving down her leg suddenly as it thudded into the dirt at her feet. She closed her eyes, never ready for what came next.

She recalled the times she had to protect herself with it, the anger in her as she wounded prey and predators alike. The bobcat she came across after it had crossed paths with a poacher that had just left it. How she cried and caressed his bloodied fur as she took him away from the pain it couldn't recover from.

And finally she thought back to the time she thought of ending it all. They would just assume she never made it and that things must go on. Her parents would never have the burden of knowing her. Nan would be safe from the harm that followed her. William could be the center of Scully and Mulders universe. There would be no Nova, just as it always should have been. She would be gone and so would the pain she brought to others.

She remembered and screamed as the thought still seemed logical in a way to her, how badly it hurt to push it away and remind herself she was here for a reason. She cried the same tears as the knife tore through the evidence bag and into her palm.

The knife hit her thumb, but that wasn't the pain that got her. Her chest hurt and she sobbed, not caring of the noise she made. She couldn't stop thinking of that night. The night she hadn't yet allowed herself to process because she was worried she was right about all those things. She took a deep breath.

She forced her eyes open and saw that she had been useful. Her hand was bloodied, but that didn't stop her. She immediately wiggled the knife and cut the old ropes from her wrist, then the other. She turned around and went to work on April.

April stared at the girl standing in front of her. She realized she had a light about her that felt warm. She looked damaged, her eyes broken yet determined as she tended to her cut hand. She was strange in a way that seemed to be other worldly. The girl noticed and stared back.

"I saved you, don't question that," she said, wielding the knife that seemed to appear out of thin air. It seemed dangerous, but she knew the girl wasn't. She could trust her, even if a knife had lodged into her hand after it flew from a bag and she didn't seem surprised by it.

Nova automatically began looking around. The ledge of the circle was at least eight feet high and even when she jumped, she only got fistfuls of dirt. She growled and kicked the exposed earth with frustration. There was no way for them to get out on their own.

Nova turned back to the center and saw that April had begun to plunder with the stuff on what seemed to be an alter.

"No touch!" she hissed as she ran to the older girl and knocked her hands away. The damage had already been done though, and the cloth scroll had been unfolded and what laid before them made Nova's blood run cold.

There was a large set of knifes. Six of them with metal handles and blades that curved inward, almost like the kind used to clean a kill. Nova got a closer look and saw that they were stained black. She knew what it was, just not who.

She still felt lightheaded and stumbled backwards. She managed to stay on her feet, but her head was pounding. How in the hell did she manage to get here...

April came over to her, a book in hand. She held it out towards Nova. Nova took it and opened it. It was hand made, the pages sewn into the leather spine. It was almost like a manual at first, but Nova couldn't read it. It wasn't written in a language she recognized.

The two girls continued to flip through the book, desperate for answers as to where they were. It was finally towards the back that new pages written in English were sewn in. Nova read the text out loud.

"The Witness sends tests to those who must prove they are worthy of his guidance. Loyalty is most important when it comes to power and respect. With this being known, The Witness will demand that once every 25 years, that ten souls must be offered to him. Each will be selected by him, and one of his chosen followers must go fetch and slay the chosen at a ceremony performed by the elders," Nova mumbled out.

She looked up at April. Her tan complexion seemed to have been drained from her face as she was paler than new sheets. Nova knew she looked no better.

"They want to sacrifice us to some man who sounds like someone from The Hobbit?" April croaked.

Nova tried to think of something but just looked down at the book.

"The elders will perform a ceremony where all grouped men must attend. While only elders know the true workings of the ceremony, the chosen follower will be the one to offer the human. He will hanf over his chosen to the Elders so they may drive the ceremonial knifes into the places of aura of the victim, allowing their soul to leak up to The Witness. The chosen must drain the blood to be collected. As the body is left, different functions will be needed with its remaining parts. At the end of the Soul Feast of The Witness, the collected blood is shared among the community as a gift from The Witness."

April bent over and vomited all into the dirt. Nova had to look away, knowing she wasn't far behind her. Nova quickly put the book down, wiping her hands of it. She felt dirty from just touching it.

It was like some weird tv horror movie. Somewhere between Children of the Corn and The Exorcist. Nova was an alien who had gone on a four month hike through the woods to find a mom and dad who think she is just someone who they ran into on a rainy night but was in fact the (second) daughter that was born without their knowledge. Somehow though, this may have been the weirdest situation Nova had ever found herself in.

Just as Nova picked up the book again and flipped to the next page, the candles that lay on the ground around the alter in the tent prison lit with a gust of wind.

"What the fu-" April screamed as she jumped away from the dozen tiny flames near her feet. Thats when a lift in the fabric tent was pinned to the side, a ladder dropped, and the forms began to pour in. Nova dropped the book at her feet. She didn't notice the fact that not a single candle fluttered.

Their robes were all black except for three people, who wore maroon velvet ones, their faces completely hidden by the hoods. Nova assumed they were The Elders of the cult. They circled in on them, somehow making it feel as if they had been put into a cage within a cage.

They stood for a moment in heavy silence. Nova could swear she felt each breath of every person there on the back of her neck. Her chest felt as if her ribs were being laced and tied together with wire. A trapped scream kept her throat hot and dry, each rigid breath only making it worse.

"April Michelle Jeckler. Nova Katherine Scully."

The voice was deep and lacked any emotion what so ever. They couldn't even tell who said it.

 _Did that just say my real name?_

There were two people in the world who knew her name completely, and both of those people were back in Wyoming.

"Who are you?" Nova demanded. Her voice shook, but she forced herself to stand up tall.

"We are a group of individuals who have sacrificed our human lives to develop wisdom needed to save mankind." It was a different voice this time, coming from farther away.

"Why did you take us? What do you want?" April demanded. She dripped with rage. You would have never known that some of the robes were standing in her fear vomit.

"Our master sent you to us. He ensured that we crossed paths with his chosen. You have the honor of laying down your organic form to please the one who gives us the knowledge and wisdom that will save humanity. You are the key of unlocking a bigger, more beautiful picture," a red robe spoke, stepping towards the girls.

The girls took a step back but ran into more of the shadows. They were slowly closing in tighter, as if they were trying to smother them with their own fear. Nova felt it might be working.

It took a moment to realize that they were being dragged back to the chairs. Their bodies felt like they were melting and even though they jerked and pleaded and kicked, they found themselves bound once again. The ropes had been cut by Nova, but there was just enough to secure them there.

Her feeling in her hands was slowly turning to sharp tingling, cutting off circulation, but she still fought hard against it, rubbing her skin raw and bloodied. She heard April crying and saw that their chairs were now side by side. Something came over Nova when she wiggled her fingers just enough to link them with the other girl's.

April looked over and understood. They had only met about ten minutes ago, but she wasn't alone. They were here together and would fight together. A little peace seeped into the older girl and she steadied her breathing. Neither would be going out without a fight.

The three elders made it to the alter in front of the girls and the rest gathered along the edge of the circle. They noticed the objects that had been stored had been disturbed. They quickly fixed them and stood straight at attention. The Elders then shouted some strange chant Nova didn't get and all of their hoods came off at once. Both girls gasped.

The men that stood there had glowing eyes, just like Nova remembered. It looked like a glow stick had been broken and used as eye-drops. Their skin seemed to hang onto their frame loosely, a sickly color taking over. They looked like something from a late night adult cartoon.

"Praise goes to the Witness, Mighty and Powerful is thee," The three men in the middle began chanting. Chills began to run through Nova. Their voices were so flat. That lack of emotion is what scared her the most.

Just as an Elder picked up a knife and wiped it with a handkerchief, a teenage boy not much older than Nova pushed through the burlap, jumping the distance into the dirt rather than putting the ladder back in. He was in a rush as he ran towards the middle men.

"Father! Wait!" he screamed out, waving a very fancy piece of paper in the air. He ran to the man on the right and stopped short, panting.

"Josiah? This is not the time boy! You are not granted to witness sacrifice ceremonies!" he barked at the boy. Nova noticed that the father wasn't looking directly at his son, and if he did, he squinted so hard his eyes almost shut. Nova wondered if the neon eye men were blind.

"Its a statement from the Witness," he said. His father quickly took it from the boys hands. Mumbling filled the room as the other men talked. Nova and April looked to one another, confused.

The man held the paper at an odd angle and much too close, but read it fairly quickly. When he pulled it back down, a huge smile covered his sickly face.

"Nova Katherine Scully," he said, turning to her. That full name thing still bothered her.

"You have been chosen by the Witness. He tells us he knows your abilities and your potential and your even more promising genes. You have been selected as my son Josiah's wife. You will be trained and married and start a family and will be declared head of the women's unit. Congratulations young lady!" He said. He waved around the paper. "You have been spared and that is a wonderful thing. How merciful our Witness is!" There was cheering from all in the room and Josiah winked at Nova.

What the fuck was happening. This shit needed to stop.

"Um, no thank you," she shouted over the cheering. It fell silent once more.

"What?" Josiah asked, his face red.

"I don't want to marry you. I don't know you. And I am only fifteen. All I want to do is go home to my mom and dad and brother," she said, tears streaming down her face. She was so angry, but felt so small.

"You are my future wife. The Witness says so! You must obey me," Josiah said, becoming angry as well.

"The Witness is full of shit and so are all of you," Nova growled back. There was a buzz among the people that was so uncomfortable Nova was tempted to apologize.

The Elder pushed his son's hand suddenly onto a knife, forcing him to pick it up. Everyone seemed shocked.

"If she refuses, we will go on with the ceremony and you will help me collect the blood of the defiant waste," he said through gritted teeth. These people could change at the drop of a hat.

The boy stuttered and tried to back away from his father but his grip was too tight.

"Father, the Witness hasn't gifted me a spot here-"

"The Witness would approve," He barked. They stared at one another and the boy nodded. The nervous tension in the room grew as the people around them knew they were stepping over a line that wasn't allowed.

The men around the room fell into routine quickly though, chanting in a language that almost sounded German. Almost like Nazis.

The three men and the teenage boy approached the girls with two small ceramic pots. They came over and one man was assigned to paint Xs on the forehead, sternum, and each wrist with a cold and foul smelling colored oil that lay in the pots. The father whacked Nova each time his thumb smeared the gel on her skin. She had to resist the urge to bite him.

While they were doing that, the middle elder read from the book Nova held earlier, reading the pages she couldn't translate. The men finished with the oil and each grabbed three of the curved, vicious looking daggers. Nova's throat felt tied in a knot.

The father handed one of the knifes to his son, speaking in their strange language as he pointed to Nova's forehead. He wanted him to strike the final blow. Nova began to sob. She was scared and wanted to be hugged. She was scared and she didn't want to die and didn't want to pretend she was brave any longer.

The chanting changed into more of dark bird song. The men began their task. The father looked with a smile as he raised the knife and brought it down into Nova's wrist. She screamed out, letting all the ugly fear and pain back up her voice. April did the same, but Nova could see nothing but white hot light. She was dying. This is what dying felt like.

What happened next was something Nova could only call the universe protecting her. Swat poured into the tent. Their voices sounded miles away and at first, she thought they were just more cult members dressed in all black. But then she saw the white letters.

Her head felt so heavy. She let it bob off to the side, but she couldn't pick it up. The men that stood in front of them only seconds before had scattered. The shouting and sound of electrical currents of stun guns filled the room with awful noise.

Suddenly a face appeared in front of her. Beautiful it was. Her eyes were blurry, or maybe that was Nova loosing her grip on the world. She cried out and the woman saw her wrist. Her eyes grew wide, but she tried not to show her concern.

"The doctors are almost here," she hummed.

Nova began to cry. She felt little again. Cold, sick and scared of the bad men. She wanted to be held. By her mother. It had always been Nan before, but now she wanted her Mommy. She knew she needed to be brave and be big, but she didn't have the energy. She didn't believe there was much left in her.

"I love you Momma," she whined out shyly. She knew she shouldn't say it. That it was dangerous. But if this was it, she wanted to say it just once to her. Because it was very true.

"I love you too Nova," Scully said to her.

With a huge smile and Scully's words singing in her ears, Nova's eyes closed forcibly for the second time that day, dreaming of singing her and William's special song with their mother and father and Emily, certain that she had made it to Heaven.


	11. Chapter Ten

_Mommy, Let me go._

Scully whipped her head towards the voice and saw she was holding the hand of her late daughter, Emily. Her hand was small and fragile, not holding back, just being pinched in the woman's grip.

"Mommy, let me go," she said again, her voice small. Scully shook her head. When was the last time this happened? When was the last time she had got to see her?

Scully drank in her face, but her chest tightened. This was not Emily. It was another little girl with red hair and blue eyes and the looks that made it clear she was related, someone similar.

"Who are you?" Dana said, her voice fragile. Even though she wasn't sure of who the tiny girl was, she refused to let go of her hand.

"Mommy, let me go," she repeated, her voice changing. The woman's mouth dropped from shock. Scully watched as the girl grew older in the very spot that they stood. She was changing, aging rapidly, but she still looked so familiar.

Scully watched as the girl went from barely a child to a kid and then a preteen. Even though the stranger was growing, Scully still kept her grip.

 _I won't let go, not this time._

Suddenly it hit her like a ton of bricks. She was standing face to face with Nova, hands linked. Her deep blue eyes held an answer, a story. A secret. Something was wrong.

"Mommy, let go," she repeated again, Nova's sing song voice somber. Scully shook her head.

"No, I won't let go this time," she shouted. Tears pooled in her eyes and what was most upsetting is that she wasn't sure why.

Nova did not move, did not blink. She stared at Scully and it felt like something was opening up. She knew the girl she was moments ago was Nova, just younger. She knew with all her being that she had just watched Nova grow from a toddler into the young woman she was standing with.

"Mommy," she said again, bringing her hand to Scully's forehead, "let go."

Nova's soft touch jolted Scully, her whole body seeming to fill with electricity. She took a deep breath and felt herself being ripped away.

* * *

Scully jerked and halfway fell out of the hospital recliner she was sleeping in. Mulder caught her before she fell on her face.

It was hard to see in the darkness in hospital room, but Mulder was only inches away from her face, so it was easy to see his sweet grin.

"You okay?" he whispered. Scully nodded.

"Yeah, you just woke me up from a really cool dream. You were letting me drive the car!" she teased with a sarcastic look. He rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide his smile.

He helped her stand and then her eyes fell upon the sleeping figure in the hospital bed, beeping monitors and wires hooked up to the lump of blankets that rose and fell with each heartbeat sound.

"Skinner has an update on the case and Nova's concerns. He is waiting for us downstairs," he told her. He immediately turned and headed for the door, but Scully hesitated.

"Will she be okay up here all by herself?" Scully asked, her dream suddenly coming back to her.

"Oh yeah. She is tuckered out. While you were napping, we went to the game room. We played Mouse Trap! Would you believe they had it?! She plays just like me so it-"

"Wait she got out of bed? Mulder..." Scully interrupted, frustrated with the man growing closer.

"Scully. They said she is fine. The only reason they kept her is to make sure the drug toxins leave her body and that vitals stay in to do the 24 hour psych evaluation. I mean, saying she was impaled in her wrist, only near inches from a main artery? Its a miracle that she didn't bleed out, never mind only need 7 stitches."

Scully huffed. He was right.

* * *

Scully and Mulder walked down the hospital hallway quietly, making sure no sleeping patients would be awoken by chatter. Once they got in the elevator they allowed themselves to speak again.

"So when she woke up, did she tell you anything about what happened?" Scully asked, leaning against the wall and pulling out her cell phone. Her clock said it was 3:00 AM. Why in the hell was Skinner demanding they meet now?

"No, she said she wanted us both to be there. Awake," he said with a playful tone.

Scully looked up at him and grinned back. She was also warmed by the thought of Nova wishing for her to be present while she answered some tough questions. She liked feeling wanted by the girl.

The elevator dinged and its doors slid open to the ground floor. Saying that it was still a few hours before dawn, the hospital was alive with energy. Sirens and traffic could be heard from outside and people were walking and running to doors and hallways and rushing to catch the elevators.

Mulder and Scully joined the crowd and moved along the lobby and hallways towards the cafeteria. It was a large hospital and would take a few minutes to get there from where they were and Scully sighed, her body tired.

Just then she felt the rough skin of a very familiar hand graze against her palm and squeeze. She laced her fingers immediately with Mulder's. He seemed to have this magic power of sensing when she needed someone to help hold her up. She looked up at him and saw that he already had a very Mulder-y smile on his own exhausted face.

Both of their movements were lethargic, and Mulder tripped on the completely flat floor. He fell forward, jerking Scully, having her land on her knees.

She for some reason felt it was hilarious and began to laugh. It was that time of night where everything was one hundred times funnier, so it wasn't just a giggle. She let the laugh run up from her gut and into her chest, spreading a much needed warmth. Mulder looked at her like she was insane, but didn't last. He was soon chuckling with her, trying to help her off the ground.

They had to stop and compose themselves before entering the hospital cafe. Skinner was a good guy, but he wasn't the kind of guy who would join in on laughing at nothing, especially during a serious conference on a dangerous case.

It took a moment, but they eventually walked in to a mostly empty dining room. In the far corner of the room sat Skinner, staring them down. Mulder wondered why he didn't just fiddle on his phone like a normal person rather than keep his eyes glued to a door.

There were two large folders and a smaller one left on the table top, only one marked as an X-File. This was more than whats involved in their department. The two looked at each other, their hands finding one another again under the table.

"I know its super early and you both have had a very long day," he started, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. It seemed he hadn't slept either. Scully and Mulder worried that he may have been having a bit of trouble readjusting back into the routine of an agent.

"All the men who were in the tent at the time of the raid are in custody. One of the younger ones cracked and told us that "The Witness" is actually a man from Ohio named Jeremy. We haven't been able to find him since he ran once he received word we had arrived. He took two of his wives but the other three along with their children were left. All the remaining women and children were rounded up and are currently being placed in protective shelters. We aren't going to be questioning them for a while because of the trauma of their living environment."

He handed Mulder the file and looked at the new added information.

"There is a body?" Mulder asked, looking back up. They had been told that April would be okay. She lost more blood and her wrist shattered, but not anything fatal...

"Yeah. One of the members of the group attacked an officer with a knife and they shot him. We need you to do an autopsy Scully. We need to figure out the cause of the glowing eyes and rubbery skin," he said, shaking off a yawn.

"Nova had said something about the glowing eyes this morning. Gesh, was that only this morning?" he asked himself more so than the others.

Skinner cleared his throat and picked up the smallest of the files.

"Speaking of Nova, I have done a bit more digging to see what we can figure out, but we really can't find much on her," Skinner said, handing that folder to Scully.

"It seems she was given up and then raised by a woman in Wyoming. It seems that woman must have died and Nova began living on her own in the wilderness and on the streets. The kid has been through a lot.." Skinner said, half there half not.

A heavy silence fell over the trio. It felt like they had all been slapped at the same time.

"Do we know anything about the woman who raised her?" Scully said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Not really. The woman basically lived off the grid. All we know is her last name was Langly, and that its also Nova's last name," Skinner said.

A tiny gasp escaped Mulder and he gripped the folder in his hand so hard it bent and crinkled.

"Langly?" he whispered.

Scully looked at him and lightly touched his shoulder.

"Mulder,last names are a grouping mechanism and a blood line tracker. Many people share them and aren't related so it doesn't necessarily mean..."

Mulder took a deep breath and weakly smiled at her. She knew the look that rested in his eyes though. He wasn't going to let it rest.

"So there is basically no information on this kid? No school records, doctors files, paperwork on her birth parents?" Scully asked, trying to curve the conversation a bit for Mulder's sake.

Skinner shook his head.

"No its very strange. Its like this woman made sure that the girl wasn't tracked in any way possible. She was keeping her from something and did a very good job at it."

Scully and Mulder were both frustrated. They had met many people and had investigated many cases involving people with no trail or background information, but this time it was a bit more discouraging, a bit more personal.

"She hasn't opened up about anything in her past yet, so there may have been a trauma that's causing her not to share that part of her story yet."

"Its like she is waiting for something. I'm not sure what, but she is very talkative and wanting to spend time with people, but she just refuses to speak about before she came to us. Not if its related to troubling feelings, more of patience and trust," Mulder said, finally rejoining the conversation.

Scully thought back to how happy Nova was with their morning out and sitting down to have breakfast with them. She enjoyed being with them and they with her, but there was still a gap that hadn't been closed yet.

"Speaking of patience and trust," Skinner said, picking up the final folder and handing it to Scully, "these are the papers to become Nova's temporary guardians. Since she is a witness to an ongoing violent investigation she has to be under witness protection. Are you willing to take on the role of temporary guardian to protect her and ensure her safety until the case is closed and a more permanent home can be found for the minor?"

Skinner sounded like an over the phone customer service machine, repeating the speech for legal purposes and finding it very annoying.

"We do," the two agents said at the same time.

They signed several pieces of paper and Skinner clapped his hands together.

"Alright, now go home, take a shower and get some rest and a bite to eat. Scully, you have to do that autopsy as soon as you are rested and Mulder, you need to go to the jail and interrogate the cult members about where we can find this Witness ass."

"What about Nova?" Mulder asked. He wasn't sure about leaving her alone all day without one of them here.

"I will be here and she is going to have two guards at her door at all times. Also a therapist will be with her a bit of the day due to possible trauma of the attempted sacrifice."

They nodded and all got up. It would have to do for today. Suddenly a thought hit Scully.

"How is Brandon?"

He had been beaten up and stunned to the point of blacking out when Scully and Mulder found him at the office door.

"Chipped tooth, broken nose, and a busted lip. He's pretty shook up so we put him on leave for a week. He will be just find though," Skinner said as walked out the door and towards the hospital exit.

It was good to know everyone who was innocent would recover. Its what made the hard part of the job easier for the agents.

* * *

Nova laid upstairs on the pediatric floor, pain medication causing her a dreamless sleep.

She didn't hear the door open or the shoes squeak against the linoleum. She didn't feel the hand that ran across her face, pushing the sweaty tangles of red hair behind her ear. She didn't see the person pick up her book bag at the end of the room and open the large pocket and pick through her messy photo collection. She didn't watch as the person picked a photo of her and her brother and smile at the happiness caught in that photo. She didn't ask what they were doing as they slid a thick envelope right on top of the photo pile and zip it back up and return it to it's place in the corner.

She didn't resist when the figure came back to her and whispered in her ear of seeing her soon before pulling the blanket up to her chin to keep her warm. She didn't ask what was going on as they slipped back out int the colorful halls as easy as he had slipped in.

Right then, Nova slept and rested unaware of what was really coming.


	12. Chapter Eleven

_(Looking a bit different. I've changed the artwork for the fic due to the change of Nova's story!)_

* * *

Nova sat up in bed as she forced the tasteless hospital food into her mouth, watching cartoon twins with a handy book run from magical monsters on the TV. It made her think of her brother.

Skinner sat in the recliner in the corner of the room, reading the paper from this morning, supposedly baby sitting her for the day.

She pushed the last bite of the yellow clod of eggs down her throat and drank the rest of her juice before capping her tray and laying back with a big throaty groan. The FBI worker laughed at her from the corner of the room. Skinner said she had to eat or she couldn't leave the room or turn on the TV. Nova felt he was going to be a real butt-munch during their time together.

Skinner looked up from the paper, a grin on his face.

"Good job. Now you will have energy for the day to get better," he said. Nova was unsure if he was just being an ass or if he really was being nice to try and get her to like him.

"Can we go get a game or a book now?" Nova asked. Keeping her mind busy helped with panic attacks and anxiety and after the shit that's hit her in the past three days, she needed it major.

She had had a night terror for the first time since her arrival last night. Her eyes had split open to see Mulder above her, holding her closer to him as she shook and stuttered. He smelled like coffee and dust and something that reminded her of the warmth you get when you take a sip of rum. It was like her fear melted away and even though he had bags under her eyes, he took her to the game room and taught her how to play a game called Mouse Trap.

"Not yet. A therapist is on her way to speak with you," Skinner said, now looking at his phone. Nova groaned again. She really didn't want to meet any more people never mind have to speak to anyone about what was going on in her head.

Nova got to watch TV for another hour before the therapist came in and expected her full attention. She walked in acting like she wasn't the visitor in this situation.

She took Skinner's chair who left for privacy reasons, but Nova also heard him tell a nurse it was his break. As if sitting in a chair and ensuring a teenager not get out of bed was an incredibly exhausting task.

The woman introduced herself as Heather and she reminded Nova of Eric's mother from That 70's Show, only younger and with brown hair. Nova felt suddenly comfortable with her, but scolded herself. She couldn't let this woman know anything about her.

* * *

Questions jumped around depending on the level of refusal that Nova answered with.

"So your adoptive mother, what was she like?" she asked, her voice soft but hopeful that she would have an actual answer.

"She wasn't my mother. She never let me call her mother or think of her as my mother or allowed me to tell anyone she was my mother," Nova snapped. She knew they were trying to look into Nan, but she wasn't going to allow it.

The woman stared at her, processing what little information was given and trying to form the next question.

"What did you call her then?" she asked, her voice still sweet as candy.

Nova mulled that over. Nan was short for Nanny, and Nan's actual name was Natalie, similar but it wouldn't be obvious. It wasn't like she was giving them her social security number.

"Nan. I called her Nan," Nova whispered.

Heather looked up from her notepad, shocked that the girl had actually answered.

"It was short for Nanny. She said she was my nanny, watching over me until I was big enough to fly on my own."

Nova remembered the strict woman and the fear she put into Nova, but also the love and tender care she filled her life with. Nan had taken her in even though she knew the struggles that were promised with the girl. She swallowed at the lump in her throat, trying to get it to disappear.

Heather smiled at the girl, happy to see she was at least slightly willing to participate.

"How did you end up on the streets Nova?" she asked.

The girl groaned and turned to the therapist, annoyance flooding the space in her chest where sadness had just laid.

"Aren't you here to make sure I haven't decided to go on a killing spree after being kidnapped and attempted to be sacrificed to someone who bleeds little girls dry to see the future that's actual shit?" she barked. She sat on her knees on the bed and crossed her arms.

"Well, yes, but it would help if we knew a little about your past," Heather said, nervously brushing hair from her face.

"We? Who is we?"

"The FBI and I. We are all very curious about your past and what your situation was before this. You did just pop out of the trees and land in the middle of a very dangerous federal investigation. We have to know before we decide your permanent placement after you come out of witness protection.."

"Wait. Placement? What placement?" Nova asked. She suddenly became a small girl again, gripping the trim of her hospital gown.

"Foster care. Agent Mulder and Agent Scully are only going to be able to watch after you while the trial on this cult case is still undergoing investigation. It will close though. The sooner we get it done the better."

"But Skinner said it could be a long time. He said I could stay with them for a while! " Nova squeaked. She tried to stop the tears, but they pushed through like flood waters over a weak levee.

"Well Nova, if they find the Witness, the case could be closed as soon as a week from now. But it will be okay! We are going to find a foster mom and dad who will love you-"

Heather was cut off by Nova's screech.

"No! No! One week isn't enough time! I need more time! I need them! I need them to understand!"

Heather grabbed Nova by the shoulders and wrapped her in a bear hug with tremendous grip. The girl tried to escape the embrace at first, but eventually relaxed, even laying her head on the small woman's shoulder. She regulated her breathing and her body stopped trembling. Crisis averted, but it was getting harder to calm down.

Heather brought back Nova to her eye level, wiping the tears that dripped off from her chin.

"Who needs to understand? And understand what?" she asked. Nova wanted to say it. That Scully and Mulder were her Mom and Dad, but she couldn't. It could put so many people in danger.

Nova quickly thought of a lie.

"I want them to understand that they are the image of the family I always dreamed of... and I don't want to go. Not so soon," she said, her voice hurting her with each word.

Heather shook her head, like she understood what she meant. A little bit of relief seeped into Nova, allowing her throat to be less constricted.

Before Heather could continue, there was a knock and with that a woman who brought lunch. Heather said she would be back later that afternoon and for Nova to get some rest before then. She was finally alone and ate her lunch of chicken tenders and peas in silence, not allowing any heavy thoughts or memories to affect her in that moment.

She pushed it away for only a little bit, but even that was a much needed break. She flopped back onto the hospital bed, mentally numb to the world around her. William always promised that after all their struggles, their life would be beyond beautiful. She was having trouble believing him again.

He would hold her during her panic attacks and tell her about how Mulder would take them outside on summer nights and have constellation naming contests. Scully would take them to see movies and have special ice cream dates. They would all pick out Christmas ornaments and would get jars to catch lightening bugs on muggy summer nights. Their kisses would heal all wounds and they would laugh more than breathe.

William was always so good at making Nova feel better, helping her dig herself out of the darkness inside her. She missed him so badly.

She reached for her backpack, shocked by the weight now that she hadn't been carrying it. She knew the pictures were completely unorganized due to the fact she threw them in there, but it was the perfect reason to look through them again.

She unzipped a pocket and there on top of the mound of mementos and pictures she had brought was a white envelope with her name written in cursive. Her chest tightened, never having seen it before. Could it be something from her Mom or Dad, a get well card or a see you later note?

Suddenly anxiety turned to excited curiosity. If it was, it would be the first tangible memory of her parents interacting with her.

She carefully opened the envelope, making sure not to rip anything. She pulled out a plain card, seemingly made out of card stock and flipped it open. Three photos fell into her lap and her blood immediately ran cold. This was not a gift from her parents.

She picked the photos up with a shaky hand and flipped them over. The first one showed the house she grew up in, covered in police tape and she could even see Ms. Van De Kamp crying into Mr. Van De Kamp's chest. There were four police cars covering the entrance and a strange fan in the place where her swing set use to stand.

She flipped to the next picture, having to know what it was. What happened.

Everything around her went black as she laid eyes on Natalie Langly sprawled on the living room floor, a crown of crimson around her head. She looked a sickly ash color and her eyes were frozen open, but they weren't looking at anything. Not on this earth at least. Nan was dead.

Vomit raced out of her, her lunch landing on the floor. She felt like the girl from The Exorcist, projecting peas out of her body like a fighter pilot. She heaved until there was nothing left but continued to gag, hoping to expel the image from her head.

Eventually she forced herself to pick them back didn't know what else to do, her brain had crashed. She needed answers.

She was shaking so badly the pictures seemed blurry. She only gripped them tighter, causing her knuckles to turn white.

She picked up the card now, unable to see the last picture right then. She had to figure out what was happening and it seemed like a new part of her brain never before used was operating her body. It forced her to open the card. Inside was a note, hand written in plain print, incredibly easy to read.

 _Nova,_

 _It has been quite some time! We have been searching for you, our miracle girl. We never expected you to have been kidnapped! I guess you were desired by more than just us. But you have come back to us, right to the very place you were created. We hope that there wont be any... further issues. A 15 year long glitch has put a major damper on our program and research, yet we look forward to fixing that. We understand you may feel upset with the death of Natalie Langly, but it was necessary and you will soon agree with this. We can discuss it further in person once we meet. I am so excited to see you eye to eye. Our creation, a young woman now. But even though you haven't been raised with us does not mean that you continue to live this life style. You must come to the FBI building, floor 18, Monday at 7:00 pm. This isn't an option. We are willing to eliminate any possible distractions if it comes down to it. See you soon our little star._

 _\- Head of the Syndicate Project_

Nova tried to process it all but she couldn't. She didn't notice the monitors for her heart rate began going off, the alarms sounding.

She turned her attention back to the last picture and saw that it was a photo of William on the bus, looking out the window with his stupid dorky smile. It was dated to yesterday afternoon. There was a huge red X drawn over his face with the text 'distractions are dangerous' written in red scrawl next to the X.

She screamed. Her lungs lit on fire and electricity surged through her veins. She began ripping the card and pictures to shreds, tiny pieces that floated through the air like confetti for a twisted parade. She tore Natalie's body to pieces, her home, her special invitation.

"THIS MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE. YOU MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE. I MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE. LEAVE ME ALONE. LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE. LEAVE MY FAMILY OUT OF THIS. YOU CAN NOT TREAT ME THIS WAY. IM A HUMAN BEING NOT A SCIENCE PROJECT," she screamed so loudly she thought her throat maybe bleeding, but she wanted to make sure whoever was watching her heard her good and clear.

She had the picture of her brother in a death grip, causing it to rip in several places as her nails pushed through the paper. She smacked her lunch onto the floor and cried and thrashed on the bed. She had lost control and it wasn't going to be able to be stopped.

The nurses rushed in just in time to see Nova's eyes roll back and seize. She couldn't tell her body what to do. It wouldn't listen to her. It had had enough and Nova would no longer be able to tell it what to do.

Her world slowly was going black. Tears flowed from her eyes and her mouth was locked, her jaw frozen in a deadlock scream position. Her lips began to change tints and her head felt like it was being pricked by a thousand tiny needles.

Her whole world was falling apart. She was causing people to die. Nan out of all people. Nova wanted to change places with her so badly. Nan had raised her and loved her and did her best when it came to be kind with her. Nova loved her. And she had murdered her. Fifteen years later Nova would have to go out and do things for the greater good and meet her family, and Nan would go into hiding. The only place she will be is under 6 feet of dirt.

She was getting tired, she didn't want this. She couldn't kill anymore people. She needed a sign but instead was being strangled by her own body.

She was in a different universe as nurses and doctors worked diligently to open up her seized airways. She knew they would be able to if a doctor came in fast enough. It hadn't been the first time this had happened to Nova. No hybrid can be created without issue, and she was no exception.

Her seizures were dangerous and huge. She had suffered with them all her life and they got worse with stress. Phenylketonuria was rare, but so was Nova. She had learned to live with it and control the episodes, but she lost it when emotions came into play.

She had just found out that the woman who had fed, clothed, and cared for her had been murdered. Because of her. She was lucky that her body hadn't explode right there.

Her mind did though. She saw nurses plugging things in and poking her with needles, but she didn't feel it. Her muscles felt like concrete and she was frozen there. A doctor from earlier rushed into her field of vision and began yelling things, shinning a pen light in her stagnant eyes.

There mouths were moving, but her ears had gone to sleep, and she wasn't far behind them. A sudden surge of warmth flew through her, like a blanket straight from the dryer had been liquefied and poured into her veins.

Her jaw relaxed and so did her eyes and tensed muscles. She fell into herself and allowed herself to leave her problems outside. She was safe, she figured that out. But now she needed to rest and her body wasn't going to let her go until she was completely recharged.

* * *

Mulder waited down by the elevators, holding two balloons and a large Cabbage Patch like doll that had reminded Mulder of the girl. He felt that sprucing up the room could do her well.

The sound of heels clicking down the hall made him look up and he saw his favorite sight. There was a playful grin on her face, but her eyes were focused. She had told him she needed to talk to him about the autopsy of the killed cult member and she always seemed so sharp after autopsies of unusual circumstances. He almost didn't want to kiss her in fear of cutting his lip on her confidence. Almost.

She looked so beautiful. There had been a special light about her these past few days he couldn't put his finger on. Almost as if a little crack was showing something new about her. They were both always growing, so it could be anything. But Mulder loved the way whatever it was this time that made her glow.

He sighed loudly just as she reached him and cocked an eyebrow. She looked him over and then looked up. Mulder followed her gaze to see that she too had purchased gifts for Nova.

He took the balloon, the flowers, and a pillow that looked like a duck from her to free her hands. He could barely see over all the stuff but he would rather that than have Scully's arms full.

They quickly loaded the elevator and pressed the button. It was late afternoon so it was slightly busy, but Scully went ahead with their conversation.

"The man I worked on today," she started "had a high level of Phosphorescence in his blood."

"Like the chemical involved with florescent lighting?" Mulder asked through a jungle of gifts.

"Yeah. But whats even more strange is that it seemed to be occurring naturally. The cells were still multiplying even though this man had been dead nearly 24 hours."

The conversation was put on pause as they reached the 7th floor and exited into the hall. They hadn't even gotten to the nurses station before Skinner stopped them.

"Something happened," he said calmly. There always had to be little to no noise on the pediatric floor.

"What do you mean? Like with Nova?" Scully, asked. She took a step towards Skinner, urgency flooding her.

"Yes. Follow me real quick," he said, walking into an empty room, shutting the door behind them.

Mulder emptied his arms of gifts onto the bed and stood beside Scully who had deflated.

"About an hour ago, Nova had a severe seizure," Skinner said, no longer speaking in a whisper.

"She never said she had seizures," Scully mumbled more to herself than anyone.

"We are starting to figure out Nova is keeping many secrets," Skinner said as he pulled out a crumpled photo from his suit pocket. Mulder took it and smoothed it out.

He saw a boy that resembled Nova greatly, sitting in what seemed to be a bus with an X on his face. There was writing but it was too torn up and he couldn't read it.

"Is this her brother?" Mulder asked, handing the picture over to Scully.

"We don't know, but who ever it is-"

Skinner was cut off by a knock at the door. Heather poked her head in and entered once she was ushered in. She said hello to everyone and had short introductions. She was here for business.

"Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, I have come to you due to concerns about Nova and her being in your care," she said.

"What does that mean?" Scully snapped. She wasn't sure where that came from but she almost covered her mouth in embarrassment. There was just a lot of emotions flying around.

"I mean no harm! Its just very obvious that Nova suffers from PTSD due to prior trauma. I believe that's what triggered her seizure, a flashback episode that was too strong for her to emotionally handle. It could be severe and she will need special care. I just think maybe you should consider giving the temporary guardianship to someone experienced in this area," she trailed on.

Scully and Mulder met eyes and knew exactly what the other was thinking.

"No," the both said at the same time, not even surprised.

"Well, I just think she might be better supervised under my care since I am trained in these-"

"No way. She is our responsibility and we aren't going to abandon her because shes a little broken," Mulder said. He began picking up the gifts for the girl to deliver them to her.

"We think Nova is a delight and enjoy having her. We gave her safety and stability and a bed and care. She is happy when she is with us. A broken heart doesn't scare us. If anything, it makes me think she needs to stay with us even more now," Scully said.

Heather said nothing but nodded, knowing the answer was final. She walked out of the room and towards the elevators.

"Where did she come from?" Scully asked as they walked towards Nova's room.

"Shes the new pediatric psychologist. The agency sent her," Skinner said, shrugging his shoulders.

They reached the door and opened the door quietly. Nova lay flat on her bed, her arms and legs restrained to make sure she didn't herself from convulsions. Her hair lay in an arc around her head, sweaty and stuck to her forehead. Her chest rose and fell in heavy arcs. She was still sedated and they could only wait until she woke up.

Skinner said goodbye for the evening and Mulder and Scully decorated Nova's room. It was much more cheerful with the balloons around the bed and the flowers and the cuddly friends in her bed.

Scully and Mulder squeezed into the large hospital recliner that they had pulled up to the bedside. Mulder cuddled into the tiny woman and Scully had one hand on the girl's motionless, restrained one and all three of them slept.

There was so much love in the room in those moments, but no one even knew it.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**_Sorry for how long this took. I hit some writers block and life is busy beyond belief with auditions and surgeries. Im not sure at the content of the chapter, since I had to push some things to the next chapter. Again sorry about the time between chapters. Hope you'll keep reading!_**

* * *

 _"Nan! Nan!" the little girl with no front teeth ran through the front door, tears rolling down her face._

 _The woman took the girl in her arms and held her tightly for a moment before bringing her back, face to face._

 _"Whats wrong my love?" she cooed._

 _The six year old leaned forward to her ear._

 _"I heard Ms. Van De Kamp think again Na," she whispered._

 _Natalie's heart sank. She knew these... changes Nova was going through were difficult, but it hurt her even more that she couldn't help her._

 _"I know. Why don't we watch Tarzan? We can sing all the songs and even use some pans to remake the gorilla band," she said with a huge smile._

 _Nova hesitated for a moment before a toothless grin spread on her face and she nodded, delighted at the thought._

 _Nan began to rewind the tape in the VCR for what seemed like the hundredth time when she threw Nova up in the air, eliciting a deliciously sweet giggle from the little body. She caught her and kissed her nose, bringing their faces close together once more._

 _"Remember my little galaxy, you will always be in my heart."_

* * *

Nova, opened her eyes, her head heavy. She couldn't tell much due to the lack of light, but a soft purple hue was taking over the room. The sun was beginning to rise, a promise of a new day leaking in through the slits in the blinds.

She tried to move but she was restrained. She flashed back to the night of the sacrifice, but her brain worked with her and she realized she was just restrained for seizure protection. She knew this, this was not a dangerous situation. She'd been in these before.

She went to wiggle her hand to the nurse call button when she realized there was a hand gripping hers. She strained her neck and was able to make out two forms huddled together in a chair dragged to the bedside, and that the smaller form was gripping her hand.

A laugh escaped her mouth quickly, a sudden burst of joy splashing into her chest. They were smashed into a chair, sharing a hospital blanket and one pillow. Scully looked so serious, just like she did when she was awake. Mulder's mouth gaped open and there was drool pooling at the corner of his mouth and dripping onto the red hair's ear. Gross.

They were twisted into a shape that would leave them stiff once they woke just to sit bedside the girl who nearly got herself killed under their watch. Maybe William was right. Maybe they did know deep down that she shared a connection to them...

She stared at them so content and doing so much without them even knowing when a memory hit her hard over the head. She could almost hear Nan singing "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan as she cried as a little girl in early morning hours after a seizure, calming her down from her episodes or rough days adjusting to the fact that she was different.

It was Nova's favorite song because it fit Nova and Nan so well. How she took her in even though she knew they were different. She loved her. She would sleep in hospital chairs too, making sure the tiny girl was comfortable even if it meant she was not.

It only took a moment for the tears to pour. She sobbed silently as she went over the song lyrics in her head...

 _"When destiny calls,_

 _You've got to be strong,_

 _I may not be with you,_

 _But you've got to hold on"_

Nan painted the whole song on the wall of her room. She said it was their song. It always would be. And she was right. Even if she was gone, Nova would hold on.

She took a deep breath and let tears trail into her mouth. She tasted the salty drops and licked her lips, trying to get rid of them and not let them stain the sheets. She wanted no sign of sadness. She had to leave the tears and self pity behind for now. This was not the time to mourn. Nan was gone and nothing she could do would stop that, so she had to lock that away for now.

But she could make it right. She could find the person who took the life of a beautiful woman who sacrificed so much for a baby that her brother stole and dropped on her doorstep. She could make them regret even learning her name.

The first step was telling the truth. She would tell them who Nan was. Nova had a fake identity when it came to legal records, so telling them who Nan was wouldn't jeopardize her or William's safety, only secure it as they looked into the killer.

She knew it was the project who was behind this, tying up loose ends. She knew she couldn't get the person who ordered the hit right now, but the person who took those pictures could do.

The Syndicate Project was a secret and only the top of the game would know Nova had been stolen, but they wouldn't want anyone to know. Growing babies in doctored wombs from stolen genetic material? That wouldn't go over too well with the public and would be disastrous with the liberalists.

Nova only existed after she was brought to Nan. It was as if Nova fell out of the sky. A little star that fell to Earth and was scooped up.

Nan had no family, not alive anyway. Her mother and father were both only children, so no Aunts or Uncles or cousins. Grandparents were gone. Her mother died when she was 27 and her father died ten years ago before she even had a chance to meet him, and her Uncle Richard had been taken from this world too. The whole Langly gang was together again, exploring new galaxies. It gave Nova a little comfort, but also great guilt.

Nova wiggled her other hand and pressed the nurse button three times. Someone on the inside had placed the letter in Nova's bag, and that meant she trusted no one. Not any janitor or hospital staff or volunteer. Annoying the nurses would ensure that they leave her be as much as possible, so someone with extra interest would stick out. She rang the buzzer three more times for good measures.

It was another moment before a nurse came rushing into the room, bypassing the intercom all together. They probably thought it was an emergency.

There was another nurse behind her and the door was shoved open so hard it caused it to smack against the wall, causing a large CRACK! noise.

The noise woke up both Scully and Mulder, causing the larger man to fall out over the side of the hospital recliner and onto the floor while Scully found herself tangled in the white hospital blanket.

"Nova what's wrong?" a nurse asked, running to her bedside.

"Please untie me," she said. There was no warm smile or remorse for the false alarm of concern. She had business to do.

"Thats it?!" The other nurse asked. She had stayed by the door and ended up walking back out. She didn't have the energy to deal with a teenager this early.

The remaining nurse growled and began to undo the restraints.

"You can not, on any circumstances, sound the nurse call button SIX TIMES for anything but an emergency!"

She continued to drag on about what is considered an emergency and what the consequences were, but Nova heard none of it. She had mastered the skill of auto tuning ever since her first day of kindergarten. Nova knew what she was doing and didn't feel processing unnecessary nagging was worth the hassle.

"Do you understand me?" was Nova's bell to rejoin the present and she nodded.

"Yes ma'am. I apologize," Nova said faintly. The nurse nodded with a small smile and checked the IV bag before leaving the room. Nova sat up and rubbed her wrists and stretched out. Restraints always made her stiffer than a plank of wood.

"Hey kid, how are you doing?" Mulder asked, getting back on his feet. His hair was sticking out all over and his eyes were still cloudy with sleep.

The girl smiled back at him and flopped her legs over the bed.

"I'm okay I guess." Nova looked at the floor, biting her lip. She felt as if every sin and malicious act the world could imagine had been melted down and poured into her blood. She was so far from okay, but it wasn't the time for healing.

Scully saw through her though.

"Are you sure sweetie?" she asked, placing the same hand that was holding hers on her knee. Nova looked up. Her eyes were burning again.

"I have something I need to tell you. It's important."

"So Natalie Langly is the woman who took you in as an infant. Four months ago you two had a falling out after realizing that there is no legal record of your adoption or any actual documentation of your birth, having no idea who your biological parents are. Then the day after you fall into a critical investigation with the FBI, she commits suicide?" Skinner cocked an eyebrow as he implied this, not believing Nova.

"She didn't commit suicide! She was murdered!" Nova barked back.

"Nova, they found a note in her writing and the gun was in her hand. Everything matched up. I'm sorry," Mulder said. The girl didn't accept this. She looked like she was about to scream.

"We aren't telling you these things to upset you. We are telling you them because it is the truth and the truth is important with things like this," Scully said.

Nova threw her arms up and sighed. She was beyond frustrated.

"We will look into it a little deeper if that will make you feel better," said Skinner. Both Scully and Mulder looked at the man. It would be impossible, the case already closed and labeled a suicide with no evidence to say otherwise.

He looked to the door to signal that he wanted to speak with them.

"Nova, I know this is very hard to handle and process, but we are going to make sure you are safe and cared for. You are in great hands. Weird hands, but great none the less." He looked at Mulder as he said this with a fake annoyed glare. Nova's face softened some, but it wasn't enough for a smile.

There was an odd silence that made Nova squirm but eventually all three adults filed out into the hall and let the young girl have a moment alone.

"Now how did she know about the Natalie Langly murder?" Skinner asked, leaning against the wall beside the door.

"She could have very well been watching the news after the therapist left. I heard HLN did a small segment on the incident before it was officially ruled a suicide," Scully said, pulling out her phone.

"That could have been what triggered her as well. I just wish she would tell us why she really ran away," Mulder said.

The trio all nodded. There were still many mysteries when it came to the teenager.

"Well, on other news we apprehended The Witness. Tragically not before he used his youngest wife as a human shield. She didn't make it. The coroner of Ohio is doing her autopsy so you won't need to worry about that Scully."

Scully was relieved. She wasn't sure she could handle cutting into any young girls at this moment.

"The Witness hasn't arrived in the city yet so you can get breakfast and brush up on your 'interrogating a psychopath' tactics. The sooner you get to the office the better," Skinner said, looking at his tablet he kept with him.

Scully and Mulder both looked at each other, concern kicking back in.

"What about Nova? Shouldn't someone she knows stay with her today?" Mulder asked, running his fingers through messy hair.

"Actually I spoke with her doctor while you two were snoring," the old man said, "and her doctor said that since Scully is a doctor and that her vitals proved stable, as long as the therapist gives her a gold star she will be out of here by four o'clock."

Mulder and Scully smiled, not just that Nova was being released, but also that Skinner cared for the girl enough to check on her at the crack of dawn. He noticed.

"Stop smiling and go to work." It was more of a grunt that a demand but Scully and Mulder still giggled quietly as they headed to the elevator.

They got in and started their descent down. Scully leaned into Mulder's side, taking in his musty smell.

"I feel the only time we actually get to spend together is in this elevator," Mulder said, looking down at his favorite red head. He placed a light feather kiss on the top of her tangled heap of hair.

"I like it. Just the two of us. Small space, lots to talk about," she purred back to him. Mulder laughed a full laugh, the kind that used a whole lung full of air to get out properly.

The laughter bled into the woman and she laughed too, her face pressed into the soft cotton of his dirty shirt.

They needed the laughter. Neither of them told the other how they were feeling, but something had changed. A new feeling of longing and understanding that they had no idea how to express or why it was happening or where it was coming from. It was an ache so deep in their hearts, it felt like it was burrowed into the makeup of who they were.

The continued to laugh as the exited the elevator and continued to the parking garage. They tried to stop it, but it flowed right out of them. People gave tired glances but the couple didn't notice.

They laughed about silly things Mulder brought up that Scully couldn't imagine where in his brain it had come from. Their giggled continued and only began to fade as they sat buckled in the car. There was a long pause, both needing to reconnect to where they were.

"I want pancakes," Mulder hummed.

Nova sat on her bed, watching cartoons and eating the packages of cookies Skinner had brought her for breakfast. Even fudy-dudy Skinner didn't think she should have to eat hospital slop.

She was in the process of cramming a whole cookie into her mouth when a quick knock sounded through the room and a woman entered and shut the door behind her.

Nova had melted chocolate smeared on her face and her cheeks were swollen with chewed sugary mush and her eyes were round with the fear of being scolded for eating cookies for breakfast and flushing the hospital oatmeal down the toilet.

The woman had big brown eyes, dark like the smears of chocolate on Nova's face. Her hair seemed to be the exact same color and it made her sharp looking in a stunning way.

She seemed serious, gripping her clipboard tightly, her eyes stern. It seemed though as she got a look at the child, she smiled a warm smile.

Nova choked down the clod of a cookie and sat at attention for the lady. The woman look a napkin off the tray and proceeded to wipe Nova's face free of melted chocolate.

Nova was taken back by this gesture, not use to strangers caring for her. Atleast, not unknown strangers.

The woman sat back, almost taking in all of the girl, at which point the girl felt exposed.

"Um hello. Not to be rude ma'am, but who are you?" she asked before things got weird.

"Oh I'm sorry. My name is Charlotte. I am your new therapist," she said, extending a hand.

Nova shook her hand, her Nan having raised a polite young lady.

"My name is Nova, but I guess you knew that. So, why am I getting a new therapist?"

"Because, I specialize in kids like you and they felt I would be a better fit as your therapist not just here, but also for the remainder of your stay in Maryland."

Nova cut her eyes at the woman, suddenly unsure. She seemed much nicer and confident than Heather. Nova felt there wasn't anything bad about her, but why is she just dropping out of no where?

"Okay, I suppose you need to ask me some questions, so lets get this party started," Nova said, leaning back onto her hospital cot.

Charlotte laughed quietly as she got herself situated and looked at her clipboard.

"Okay Nova. First question- Have you ever felt you wanted to harm others? Such as homicide?"

"No."

"Good. How about suicide?"

There was a pause and Nova was pretty sure the woman picked up on it.

"No."

"Okay. Have you ever felt you posses special abilities?"

Nova sat up so fast she may have caused herself whiplash.

"Excuse me?" she chirped.

"Special abilities. Things other people can't do," she said.

Her face was serious, only a small smile on her face that looked forced.

Nova looked to the door, feeling she should run away, but she didn't want to run out in the hall with only a flimsy robe.

"Uh no. I do not," Nova said. Her throat suddenly dry.

The lines of questions that followed were no easier to avoid. Things from 'Do you have special relationships' all the way to 'Do you feel you aren't from the planet' were thrown at her.

Nova knew that her therapist knew something about her, but if she was friend or foe was yet to be determined.

After two hours of talking, Charlotte rose, a genuine smile back on her face. She walked over to Nova and placed her hand under her chin.

She looked at the girl as if she knew something Nova didn't, which Nova did not appreciate. She only looked at her for a moment before stepping back towards the door.

"Well you are all cleared to get out of here! I am going to go let your doctor know so they can begin your discharge papers and you should be out of here this afternoon!"

Nova suddenly came back to life. Scully's cooking and games with Mulder all under their roof like a real family!

"I will be looking forward to seeing you in my office next week Nova," she said with a wink before walking out the door.

Whoever this woman was, she was official enough to be able to give the clearance of Nova's discharge. Then again the Syndicate is the dirty secret and they always hide themselves well.

Nova groaned. Who could she trust?

Just as the universe seemed to be dumping on her major, Skinner burst through the door. He chunked the outfit she arrived in (which had been washed clean of blood) at her.

Stunned, she didn't quiet catch them and they smacked her in the face.

"You're breaking free! Get dressed and we will go surprise Scully and Mulder down at the agency," he said before disappearing back into the hospital hallway.

Nova laughed as she removed her own IV, which she knew how thanks to Nan's necessary novice medical training, and began to get dressed.

New therapist pushed aside, she was excited to reunite with the outside world and her Mom and Dad.

She pulled on her shirt and headed over to her backpack, attempting to ignore the photos as she packed back up. The one of William stood out though and she picked it up.

No matter how much fun she was having with her parents and finally living the life she dreamed of since she knew her name, there was still a reason they both had to come here.

There was a reason Nova was here other than a family reunion. Her and her brother were the key to some type of salvation. She couldn't forget that and she had to make sure her brother got to her safely.

No matter how badly she wanted to forget, she had to remember why she was here. Why she exists.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**_I put in quite a bit of fluff for this chapter to make up from the lack of it in the future chapters. Storms are coming.._**

* * *

Nova ran into the FBI building, happy to be on solid, immobile ground. Skinner came in behind her, grumbling about something that made him sound like an old man.

"Be lucky we didn't have to walk here!" He said, walking to the elevators.

Nova would have much rather walked than have to be scared of crashing into something. He didn't even always have his hands on the wheel. He talked about something with Pokemon and looked more at Nova than the road. Her hands were still cramped from how tightly she was gripping the passenger seat.

Nova saw that Skinner was waiting for her and she jogged to catch up, waiting for the elevator together.

"Scully and Mulder are in interrogation so you will have to go back down to their office and wait for them."

Nova looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"Are you serious? Last time I did that I was kidnapped and stuffed in a body bag like a corpse to be sacrificed to some weird group of misogynists!"

He looked over to the teenager and saw that her hands were on her hips and she had a look on her face that reminded him so much of Scully it was scary. He rolled his eyes in response.

"Fine. You can come upstairs but you touch nothing, say nothing, and do nothing. You will be a shadow. Barely existing. No asking questions either, got it?"

Nova almost asked a questions but decided against it and nodded.

* * *

It took almost five minutes to get to the 13th floor, seeming to stop at almost every floor. People going in and out, all looking the same. Their faces serious, their bodies' covered by polyester business suits.

The floor Nova and Skinner got off on was dimly lit, windows taking up the majority of the hall length. There were a few rooms Nova could see in to due to the fact that their walls were see through glass.

They seemed more like separated compartments rather than rooms, but there was furniture in each one, along with a mounted TV and tables of people.

She saw lots of dry erase boards too, with pictures and writing on them.

She followed behind Skinner, taking it in. It really did look similar to the set of Criminal Minds, which would make sense since this was the FBI.

As Nova was walking towards a door that was connected to solid walls, she saw another board, but saw her picture. She stopped, trying to focus on what was on the board.

There were two, side by side. One was a picture taken when she came into the FBI but also one that appeared to be her the ER after the attack. She still had blood on her face and she wasn't awake, which would be why she didn't remember.

The board was a whole two glass compartments over and she couldn't see what was written beside it.

She focused hard, trying to see if she couldn't enhance her focus on the scrawl, almost like a real life zoom. She had always hated training with her senses when it came to understanding her extra abilities due to the fact that during training her eardrums had burst on three different occasions of trying to train her hearing of up to a mile distance.

She focused though, focusing on the board, the picture, the markings.

Suddenly there was commotion and she stopped to see that the room had reacted to the board moving across the room. Skinner was staring at her.

She looked at him and then the room, her upper lip beginning to sweat.

"Weird," she said,clearing her throat.

Before he could say anything back, she ran ahead of him. She made it to the door and waited on him to open it for the both of them. She trained her eyes on the ground, pretending to find the magic board uninteresting.

Skinner looked over to the agents who were now surrounding the board, poking it with their pens and chatting excitedly. One was even circling it. He groaned, knowing he would have to work extra hard to keep them from mentioning it to Mulder.

* * *

Nova watched as the interrogation began to stall. Mulder leaned against the corner of the room and Scully sat at the table across from the man who wanted to marry her off to a boy in his cult.

He was round like a tomato and his hair was long and thick, pulled into a braid that trailed down his back. He was wearing a pair of frayed jeans and a sleeveless shirt that seemed to have the logo of some rock band printed on the front.

He sat very calm, his handcuffed wrists resting comfortably on his lap as he seemed to hum, his eyes closed like he was meditating.

She growled at him, wishing he could see her so she could flip him off. It was safer for her to remain behind the glass where he didn't know she was there.

"Jeremy, it would be in your best interest to tell us how and why you ordered your followers to kidnap and murder those girls. It will be considered a murder for hire and you will receive maximum punishment if you don't offer us information for those families. For those girls," Mulder growled.

Nova was taken back by his change. He looked like he wanted to spit on the man.

"What about the girl on the other side of that window?"

Nova stepped back. His voice was calm as he said it, as if he was reading a fun fact off the back of a cereal box. How did he know she was here?

"What girl are you talking about? There is no girl on the other side," Scully said.

"Your girl."

Nova gasped, the air catching so fast in her throat that it made her choke. Skinner was looking at the girl, beginning to open the door to the observation tank when the man spoke again.

"There is much you don't know. I see it is not my place to tell you though. The other gifts on the other hand, well I suppose you call them victims here, were chosen carefully. I am only a vessel, our true leader being the spirit that talks to me. Those girls were given new purpose and taken to a paradise. They are elite in the eyes of The Witness. They did not suffer and while it seems that there was a crime in the eyes of mortals, they are happy and thankful that they were chosen. So do not bother with any further questions of motive or reason. Your corporal punishments do not bother me. I have the spirit of The Witness, you can not hurt me."

Nova inched closer to the glass, wondering if it wasn't see through after all. She watched as Scully looked to Mulder who was now pacing the room.

"Each family received the girl's bodily vessel and was able to bury their loved ones," the man spoke again. His voice made Nova's skin crawl, almost like the hissing of a snake.

Suddenly Mulder darted back and slammed a fist onto the metal table, causing Scully to jump.

"These were teenagers! Girls who had dreams and aspirations and plans for their future! Those girls didn't want to be taken and sacrificed to what ever the hell you creeps claim to be! You slaughtered four almost six teenage girls! They were children! You killed children! You slaughtered someone's babies!"

His eyes were hazy, tears threatening to spill over. He looked at Scully before nodding to her and walking out of the interview. Scully looked stunned for a moment, contemplating whether or not to follow him out when the man spoke again.

"If it will allow this confrontation to end sooner, I will supply the names of the members of our society chosen to bring and offer up each young lady," he said, sitting so still it seemed like his body was made of stone.

Scully gnawed on her cheek before getting up and leaving the room. Nova knew she couldn't go on with the conversation without a lawyer present. Skinner left the room to find his agents and Nova was following behind when the voice caught her attention.

"Your brother is safe."

Nova felt her stomach drop and her heart stop. She turned back to the window and saw that he was now facing towards her. She knew he could see her.

"Nova, child of the stars, you have a lot of doubt and darkness in your heart. You may believe that William is the one that holds the key, holds your parent's happiness, but you are far from the truth. Do not believe you don't belong here. The world needs something that no one has, no one but you that is. There are many obstacles and dangers close to you, be careful."

As he spoke he got up and walked closer to the one way glass. He was so close that his breath was fogging up the glass. Nova swore she felt the warmth on her face.

"My case will take some time to completely close, I will make sure of it. Consider it my gift to you Nova. You are a treasure to this planet, and while you would have been a wonderful part of our congregation, to help your journey would bring The Witness great pride," he whispered this time.

Nova felt like he was sitting on her chest. She touched the glass with her hand. She wanted to ask where William was,what he meant about Nova being the key, and what dangers were close. She also wanted to smash through the glass and pull his whole braid straight out of his head for the suffering he had caused through his twisted belief of murder.

He lifted his hand and met hers on the other side. Her mouth gaped open. She knew he could see, but this was strange. He smiled at her.

"Thanks goes to the girls that allow me my sight to help," he said, bowing his head.

Nova stumbled back and fell onto her butt. She had forgotten for a moment that he was a monster and she couldn't believe a word he said. She got up and ran right out of the room, running right into Mulder's back. She was nearly knocked down, but she caught herself. He turned around and Skinner and Scully turned their attention to the girl.

Nova didn't realize how she must have looked because all of their expressions changed.

"Nova are you alright?" Mulder asked.

She was sweaty and pale and her pupils were taking over the majority of the blue of her iris. She kept swallowing hard, trying to get the closing sensation that was overtaking her to go away.

Scully turned to Skinner, the tiny red head now aggravated.

"When did she get released? How did she get released to you? And why in the hell did you think it was okay to let a PTSD symptomatic, seizure prone girl into a serial killer interview?" she growled.

"Well, I showed them my badge and they released her to me," Skinner said.

"I didn't want to go back down to the basement by myself," Nova chirped in, pushing some sweaty wisps of hair from her face.

Scully didn't want to just drop the issue, but Mulder broke her train of thought when he suddenly walked over to her and knelt down. He had a look of amusement on his face, as if he wasn't on the brink of strangling to tomato man just moments before.

He seemed to be examining her and she raised an eyebrow in response.

"Hmmm..." he said, his lips pursed.

"What?" Nova asked, a tiny smile fighting its way onto her face.

"You seem... to be suffering from a low pancake level."

The smile that overtook Mulder made Nova laugh. She had always been told growing up that her dad was unusual, but that his sense of humor was gold. She was so relieved to see that he was.

"Mulder, what is with you and those pancakes?" Scully asked. Her tone didn't show it, but her face did. She thought it was funny too.

* * *

Nova sat beside her father in a booth, right across from Scully who was checking something on her phone, but was smiling as she listened in on the two across from her.

The girl had her feet tucked under her bouncing on her knees as she waited for Mulder to hand over his smartphone. He had opened up Angry Birds and they were currently taking turns.

"Miss! Miss! Miss!" Nova chanted at him. She looked over his shoulder and Mulder felt a tickle in his chest. He jacked his final bird, missing by a long shot.

"Shoot!" he growled. He passed the phone over to the girl and she took it excitedly.

It only took her two birds to beat the level and she beamed, very proud of herself. She played it as if she was trying to be smug, but she wanted to show Mulder she was good at it, even if it was a silly game.

Their food came to their table by then, all getting buttermilk pancakes. Even Scully. The waitress left two containers of warm syrup before leaving the trio to eat.

Mulder offered Nova the syrup but saw she had already began to eat them dry.

"You don't want syrup?" he asked. She saw they both thought this was odd.

"No thank you. I wasn't allowed to have it growing up, so I never really developed a liking for it."

Mulder nodded and placed the syrup pitcher on the table. There was a moment of silence before Scully spoke.

"Nova, can you tell us a little about your life? It seems like you'll be with us for a while and we are very curious to know who you are."

Nova slowly lifted her head to see a soft smile on her mother's face. She knew she was being sincere, but Nova felt like it was an interrogation.

"Um... Like what?" Nova finally said. Maybe if she answered their questions instead of starting the story herself, she could keep the important details hidden until the right time. She really wanted to tell them now, but with out William, it would be disastrous.

"Where did you live before you came to Maryland?" Mulder asked, taking the chance.

"A small town called Pleasntview in Wyoming. It was a population of 500. We didn't even have a public school. Two really small private schools that were run out of churches. It looked like it was stuck in the 60's, but it was a quiet place to live."

Scully and Mulder exchanged glances, both excited that the girl was opening up. Nova took a bite of pancakes, silently praying that they were asking these things to know more about her and not just to jot down into her file.

"Did you go to the private schools?" Scully asked this time. She supposed there was some unspoken agreement that they were taking turns.

"Off and On. I was home-schooled a lot due to behavior," she sighed.

She had unnatural intelligence, along with being the odd kid out and being bullied often, school was rough for her. She tended to do things that were questionable, such as steal the master fuse out of every car in the school parking lot before dispensing them in the Waffle House claw machine.

She played with the remainder of her pancakes. Scully knew that school may be an uncomfortable subject for her so she decided that she didn't need to ask about it. Mulder understood too.

"Did you do any extra-curricular activities? Got any hobbies?" Mulder asked, nudging Nova a tiny bit. He liked to see her smile.

"Oh boy. Not recently, but I was in about every activity you could think of. Ballet, piano, Girl Scouts, theater, horse back riding, and karate. Natalie put me into as much as possible. She had hopes it would make me feel like a normal kid and not be so...distant with other kids."

Nova cleared her throat and took a sip of her soda. The fizz tickled the back of her throat. She sat back again and prepared for the follow up questions.

"Why weren't you a normal kid?" Scully asked, her tone different. Nova felt her palms slick. She worded that incorrectly.

"Uh well. I'm adopted which is odd where I'm from and I have a very high IQ, which they tended to target me for-"

Nova was cut off.

"How high is your IQ?" Mulder asked.

Nova looked to him, then back to Scully. She was focused in on her too. She didn't want to lie to them, just keep some facts to herself. Unfortunately she had let this one slip and couldn't take it back.

"147," she whispered.

It was so quiet she swore she could hear the infant's heartbeat that the pregnant woman was growing in the booth behind them.

"Nova, that's a genius score," Mulder said finally.

She looked at him and shrugged, followed by a nod.

"Did Natalie or someone who administered the test document it?" Scully spoke again.

Nova shook her head.

"She thought it wouldn't be a good idea, since I wasn't legally her child. She didn't want someone to come and question me, then take me away," Nova said. Her voice had cracked and tears pooled in her eyes.

It was true, Natalie had made sure the records were destroyed. She didn't want them finding out who Nova was and taking her away. She knew she wouldn't be taken to a foster home, but the lab that had made her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and brushed the tears from her eyes. She was glad she wasn't into makeup or else her mascara would be running.

She felt a strong hand on her back and then a tiny hand grip her's. She looked up to see her Dad and Mom, both attempting to comfort her. More tears followed but she didn't bother to wipe them. She didn't want to let go of Scully's hand. She smiled a little instead.

"Sorry, I'm not use to being... to feeling... my life has been sorta shit and this.. isn't," she explained quietly.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other. There was a sadness in their eyes even though they had friendly grins on their face.

Nova knew that they wouldn't allow themselves to be come attached to her, at least not when she is Nova Langly in their eyes. As of now, they believed she was a child who fell in their lap and had to protect until the people who had tried to kill her were locked away.

Nova also knew that there was no guarantee they would accept who she really was and open their arms and hearts to her. Emily was still small and she was alone, Scully wouldn't have left her. But Nova is a different. She's a teenager and she holds a dark truth. Why would you sit down at a dinner table with that and kiss that forehead before bed and call it daughter?

"Did you have anyone besides Natalie back home?" Scully eventually whispered, having to let go of Nova's hand as she paid the check.

"Yeah. My best friend Billie. He and I had lived next door to each other since we were two. He was adopted too. We were like two halves that make up a whole."

William and Nova had decided to give him a code name until it was time. Billie was something William's father called him every once and a while, so it was perfect. A form of William that Scully and Mulder wouldn't pick up on.

"Do you think we could call his parents maybe? Would that be some place we could look into after you leave us?" Mulder asked.

Nova winced. She looked out the window. She didn't want them to call anyone. She felt like they just wanted to plop her in any passing car or bus and get rid of her and all her baggage.

"No. He's gone."

"Gone?" Scully asked. Nova didn't have to turn around to feel the concern in her voice. Even though it was silly and unreasonable, she felt hurt by it. Almost like they were already caring more about him before even knowing who he was.

There was a building sensation of anxiety and self loathing building in her chest when suddenly there was... _an itch_.

She sat up. Her hands automatically went to the uncomfortable sensation as it began to grow. It's awful but it wasn't unfamiliar.

She began to search for the cause. She pressed her face against the window, what Natalie always referred to as 'Search Mode' taking over. She searched each passing car and man on a bike. It was only until the bus that had stopped moments before began moving again did she see.

William, packed down with bags standing on the other side of the street. He smiled at her. His Search Mode must have turned on too. She held her breath as she shot under the table and out the door, ignoring the shouts from Mulder and Scully.

She saw them running after them and knew she could not wait for the red lights to cross. She focused all her energy on put it towards the traffic lights, all of them within a 100 feet turning red suddenly.

Breaks screeched and the sounds of bumpers being crushed filled the street, but again Nova didn't care. Neither did William. He dropped his hand suitcases and ran to her, wrapping his arms around her.

He picked her up and hugged her so tight it hurt, but she didn't care much. She cried onto his shoulder and she felt his on her neck. He smelled so bad, but she didn't care much. He was here. He was alive. He had grown and changed since she saw him last, but he was in one piece.

He began to hum the song that meant so much to their mother as the traffic began to flow again, aside from those who were arguing over insurance. The world around them moved, but they staid still.

It took a moment but Nova eventually looked up and saw her brother had a bruise on his face but light and tears in his eyes. She laughed and so did he and she embraced him again. When she looked at him the next time though she saw his eyes had traveled back to the diner. Out in front of the door was Mulder and Scully, looking bewildered and even worried.

"Is that..." William started, his voice hoarse.

"That's them," Nova said.

She watched as they looked at each other and talked to one another before pressing the button to let the lights know there are people waiting to cross. They were coming to them. She could see she was shaking and so was William.

"They think your name is Billie," Nova said, not bothering with wiping tears anymore.

William laughed.

"All according to plan then," he said as he smoothed out his clothes and hair. He wanted to make a good first impression.

"Not even a little," she said back.

She watched as the cars began to slow down. They'd be crossing any moment.

He turned to her, scared. She couldn't tell if it was because the plan had gone way off course beyond his imagination or if it was because his unknowing birth parents were walking towards them and neither of them had any idea what they would do or how they would react to a strange boy showing up to reconnect with the other strange kid who had just showed up in a seriously screwed up investigation.

There would be questions to answer, lies to be told for the time being.

Nova grabbed her brother's hand though, interlocking their sweaty shaking fingers.

Neither said it, but there was also excitement. For the first time since either of the teenagers start of existences, their family would be together. They both wondered if their parents would sense it.

They did. A sense of growing anxiety and curiosity grew as they approached the children and before she realized it, Scully reached for Mulder's hand. For stability, even if they didn't know why.

Nova smiled. She was about to walk into some sort of cosmic burst of destiny and she wasn't sure if she was going to regret it forever or marked it as the start of how life was supposed to be. She was ready either way.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_"What do you think they'll do?"_

 _Nova looked to her brother. His head was leaning against the swing chain, his face turned to her. He looked nervous for some reason, but he still showed his smile which was missing what seemed like half of his teeth. Nova pushed with her legs and caused the swing to go higher._

 _"What do you mean?" she asked back. She talked with a lisp due to her own missing front teeth that had been knocked out of her mouth after a nasty fall the week before._

 _"Mommy and Daddy. When we go see them and tell them who we are," he said, trying to catch up to his sister's height of flight._

 _"Well, they are gonna cry and hug us and kiss us and tell us they love us more than anything and then protect us forever," she replied back, a grin spreading onto her tiny face at the thought._

 _She looked over to her brother and saw he was not smiling. She knew he was afraid to leave his own adoptive Mommy and Daddy to go to their real Mommy and Daddy. The Van De Kamps were really nice and loved Will a whole bunch and he loved them too. It was going to happen though, and Nova wanted it more than anything in the entire universe._

 _Her excitement spread through her whole body, all four feet of it. She felt the swing reach its highest level and she pushed off. She heard Will's protests but ignored them. It had been a jump from the swing that knocked out her teeth, but she didn't care._

 _When she closed her eyes and jumped, it was like she was jumping into the stars and would fall into her Mommy and Daddy's arms. That small moment of love and safety was worth all the baby teeth remaining in her mouth._

* * *

Mulder and Scully stared at the two children across from them. They both looked beaten up, Nova covered in bruises with a bandaged hand and the young man having a large bruise on his cheek and bags so large under his eyes it looked like he hadn't slept in days. But what struck both adult is that they looked just alike. Red hair with the same nose and smile that sat nervously on both faces. One had big blue eyes and one had normal brown, but that seemed to be the only thing that made them not spitting images of each other.

"Nova, who is this?" Scully finally asked.

The twins looked at one another. They knew that announcing their identities on the street was dangerous.

"This is Billie," Nova said. She knew that was going to be suspicious, and it was and it showed on the agents face.

"Billie? The boy you were talking about literally just a minute ago?" Mulder asked.

Nova looked at her feet. This couldn't go badly. Thankfully her mother saved the day.

"Hey, Skinner gave us the rest of the day off. Why don't we all go back to the house and have some tea and get to know each other."

Mulder glanced at her, but Scully gave a glance right back. It wasn't up for discussion.

* * *

Nova sat nervously, tilting the glass of tea in her hand from side to side, making the ice inside dance.

She looked over to 'Billie' and saw he had not even touched his glass. He twiddled his thumbs instead, looking down.

Mulder and Scully were in the kitchen, making up a plate of snacks. It was more of a moment for them to discuss the situation that was at their kitchen table.

"What do you think could be going on?" Mulder asked. He always tried to ask that question first, because Scully never liked his answers.

"I'm not sure. I mean, it could be pure coincidence...But this is beyond strange," she said, placing some grapes onto the snack tray. Mulder picked up the assortment of finger foods and gave her a gentle surprise kiss.

"Good thing we are experts with the strange," he whispered with a smile. Scully felt as if she was melting into her shoes when he flashed that cheesy grin.

They both followed one another into the dining room and sat at the table with the kids. Both stiffened into boards it seemed.

There were glances exchanged between both pairs, and it took several moments for either party to speak.

"Billie, I'm Fox Mulder and this is my partner Dana Scully," he introduced them before popping a cheese cube in his mouth. Scully had prepared quite a range of munchies, which Mulder knew was a sign she was antsy.

It took him a moment but eventually William picked up his head.

"Hello, it's very nice to meet you," he said shakily.

Nova felt a breath catch in her throat. These were the first words spoken to her brother's parents. He had slept in their arms, but that was baby William. Now he spoke to them as All Grown Up William. She was witnessing something extraordinary

"Now I have to ask... But how did you get here?" Mulder asked. He seemed to be doing all the talking and that made Nova nervous.

"Well, I left home a while back. I'm a student at a boarding school about a hour out and my mother gave me a call two days ago and told me Ms. Natalie had passed. I knew Nova had run away a few months ago, but I knew she wanted to go to D.C. so I came here. The rest I just add up to fate," he said.

A pang of mourning flooded Nova's chest. She wasn't sure if he would know about Nan or not, but she was sort of glad he did. She didn't want to be the one to tell him that she had died and that it was Nova's fault.

Scully could not hide the doubt she was feeling. How was this even possible? Did Nova tell him where she was over the phone? That was very possible if she gave him a call while she was alone in the hospital.

Mulder looked over to his partner and saw she was in mid thought. He didn't want this conversation to grow cold though. He turned back to the kids and blurted out what he was thinking.

"You two look just a like. Almost like twins! Are you related in any way? I remember Nova mentioning you were both adopted."

The children both grew pale and their eyes widened. They both looked like little deer in head lights. They slowly looked to one another.

"Uh, neither of us ever knew our birth parents. I was taken in at a month old and Wi- Billie was taken in when he was a bit older," Nova whispered, pushing hair behind her ear. She coughed and cleared her throat hoping no one noticed that she almost said Will, but the look on her brother's face said he did.

"Do you have any idea who your parents could be or where they are?" Scully asked. For some reason her throat was dry and she felt nervous, so she sipped her tea hoping it would calm her a bit.

Neither Nova or William answered. This was never part of the plan. They never prepared for them to be chatting over fruits and cheeses and chips for the very first time they were ever together. They never thought that they would have to choose between lying and putting a wedge in their trust or telling them the truth and being put in direct danger.

Then, the universe being the rare and spectacular thing it is, the silence was broken by the ringing of a phone. Scully picked hers up and looked at it, immediately hitting the accept button.

"This is agent Scully speaking," she replied back, sitting up straight.

There was a pause so the person on the other end could say what he needed to. Scully stood up and grabbed her coat.

"We will be right there," she said to the caller before ending the call and pocketing the phone.

Mulder stood up, not sure what was going on, but the kids stayed glued to their seats.

"What's going on?" he asked, slowly reaching for his jacket.

"It seems Jeremy Sawyer has escaped and also killed two security guards. We have to get back to the office pronto."

Mulder nodded and looked at the kids.

"What about them? I don't think Nova needs to be among anything with the investigation. She's got to stay in one piece," he said, looking at her and winking. She smiled and crinkled her nose in a teasing way. She loved when her dad showed concern for her.

"Uh well, I suppose they can stay here," Scully said.

She knew it would probably be an awful idea and there was no telling who this boy really was, why he was here, and how he knew Nova was here. She also didn't know much about the girl herself, but she trusted her for some reason. She was special and overall to her very core, Scully knew she was good. She could trust her. She felt it deep within her heart.

Mulder raised an eyebrow, looking over to Billie.

"Should Billie come with us instead..? Maybe we can drive him to a hotel?" he asked. He didn't feel it was a good idea to leave the two alone together. They didn't seem to have feelings for one another, but not everything that appeared platonic actually was.

Scully grabbed her keys before looking over to Billie. He sat, nervous. Mulder was worried about Nova, but if Nova loved Billie, then that had to mean he was a great boy.

"Nah. Let them catch up a bit. A lot has happened since you last saw each other I suppose. We can drive you to a near by hotel later on. If we make it home early enough to make dinner, then we can eat a meal together and drive you afterwards."

Nova and William looked at each other, almost excited like. They beamed and nodded.

"Thank you very much for allowing me to stay and catch up with my best friend," he said, looking at Nova. She punched him the arm and rolled her eyes. She was happy too.

Scully had changed though. There was a little sadness in her eyes when she heard him speak. He may have seemed like a good kid, but there was also something different and damaged about him. Just like Nova. Those damn kids made her heart strings pull in every single direction but she couldn't place why.

Mulder didn't say anything and his face was more of a blank gaze, but he felt the same way.

They both looked at each other and seemed to cause one another to snap out of it.

"We will be back hopefully soon and in one piece. Until then you are welcome to any snack or drink in the fridge. No fire and you can not be any further than 50ft from the house. Okay?" Mulder asked.

The twins nodded in complete sync.

"Yes sir," they said, seeming almost like one voice.

Mulder gave them a thumbs up before grabbing Scully's hand and leading her out, but not before he slipped his hand into her coat pocket and swiped the keys to the car. He liked to drive.

* * *

They waited until they saw the car was out of sight before breathing a sigh of relief. They needed to inform and regroup with what was going to happen. She looked to her brother, who was also looking to her.

"Well. Hello," she said, out of breath like she had just run a marathon.

He laughed in response before wrapping his arms around her so hard it felt she may pop. She didn't mind though. She felt safe and at home.

They stayed like that for what seemed like forever, but eventually they pulled apart. Nova wasn't sure when her brother had started crying, but there were tears rolling down his face.

"Wanna go sit within 50 ft of the house?" he asked.

She nodded. They both loved the outdoors. They felt a special connection with the raw nature of the world. Like they may actually fit into the picture that was their life.

It was the perfect weather for deep conversations. A coat and a bed of bushy grass to lay in, looking up at the grayish winter sky.

"I was caught by a man from a cult. The cult was killing teenage girls to give them to give them supernatural abilities, as orders of their leader. When I ran into the man along my travel route, he chased me. It was no doubt he was trying to catch me, but I out ran him and I made it to a road. I was going to exit the brush and find somewhere far away to get away from the freezing down pour when I ran into them. They were on the case of the cult due to connections from a previous X-File. I tried to run from them, but they had guns. I didn't want to get shot by Mom or Dad, so I followed along. They took me in immediately William. They told me they wanted to fill my belly and get me cleaned up! They bought me clothes and Scully even brushed my hair. William, I think they feel a connection," she said, looking at her brother who was lying the the grass next to her. She wasn't exactly sure how to summarize the past five days.

He didn't seem so sure about what she had to say though.

"I dunno Galaxy. Maybe they just felt bad for a homeless orphan who was wet and beat up. How could they know that your their daughter? You didn't ever know them before this. I mean, I grew inside of her and she didn't seem to know who I was."

Nova cocked an eyebrow. What was his problem? He never mentioned the pregnancy because he knew how badly it upset her. Was he jealous?

"Just because I didn't grow in her womb with you and didn't kick you in your dumb feet with my fetus feet doesn't mean I'm not her daughter. I'm a production of their genes. You are no more their child than I am."

She hissed it more than said it. His face softened though. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He looked back up to the sky and sighed.

"Sorry. This is all just really weird. I mean, I knew this was going to happen. I knew we were going to have to come here and do something important. But how do we know it was the right thing to do? How do we even know The Lone Gunmen were right about what they say is our destiny?"

Nova looked at him. His face was contorted in what almost looked like pain. She wanted to reach out and touch him, let him know he was here and he wasn't alone, but she knew it wouldn't help.

"The Lone Gunmen were aware of a lot, even more then Mom and Dad. I mean, they knew about me. Maybe when they went to go retrieve me, they over heard stuff. I know they managed to dress as techs and rescue me from my incubator chamber, but they also stole a lot of paperwork. It wouldn't surprise me if they found out more about why they were growing babies," she said. She wanted her brother to feel confident in what they were doing. She wanted him to be excited to grow as a family with their mom and dad.

William opened his mouth to speak when a sound broke out across the yard on the silent afternoon. His face seemed to darken. It took a moment for Nova to realize it was a cell phone, and that the ringing was coming from William's pocket.

A rush of anger came over her and she wanted to slap it out of his hand, but he quickly rose and answered it.

"Hi Mom," he whispered, trying to cover his mouth as best he could.

Nova began to shake. What was he doing? He couldn't have any type of trace on him! And his mother shouldn't even be in contact with him! She was suppose to believe he had run off to be apart of a cult!

She grabbed onto his shirt, trying to stop him. He looked down at her with a weird look in his eyes before knocking her off and walking into the field ahead of the house.

Her chest burned and she wanted to run after him, but she couldn't find the strength. What was going on?

* * *

Scully sat in the passenger seat, already having informed Mulder she would be driving home. There was the quiet hum of classic rock on the radio, but not much else. She could see out of the corner of her eye that he was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Something she's learned over the years as a nervous tick.

"Are you nervous that Jeremy is going to use the force on you?" she asked jokingly. She waited for a response, but one did not come. She looked over to him and saw he wasn't smiling. She reached for his shoulder, but pulled back her hand.

"Mulder, are you okay?"

He seemed to snap out of whatever was distracting him because he looked over to meet her gaze.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Lost in thought," he said back to her, not looking at her.

"What's bothering you?" she said concerned, this time placing her hand delicately on his knee, causing a rush of electricity to surge through his skin.

He kept his eyes on the road but took a moment to look at her out of the corner of his eye. He sighed in frustration. He knew it was pointless to hide anything from Scully.

"That kid. That's whats bothering me."

Scully didn't understand.

"What about him Mulder?"

He chewed the inside of his cheek, mulling over how to word it.

"I know him. Some how I feel like I know him. Maybe his face is just the familiar type or I have in fact some how crossed paths with him. Sometimes I can pass someone in the supermarket and remember their face for twenty years. I don't know how, but I feel like I know him."

Scully felt a weight drop on her shoulders.

"I thought the same thing," she whispered, looking at her knees.

"You did?"

"Yeah. When I saw him standing beside Nova, it was like when you click two puzzle pieces together. It seemed like a blurred picture in my head, especially his face. So maybe we did come across him once before. It wouldn't be that unlikely, having been only an hour out of town. That's gotta be where this memory is coming from. We probably worked a case there," she said.

She sat back in the seat, trying hard to picture him some where, in the crowd of some scene or a kid among the streets as they asked town's people questions.

"Well, maybe but he never told us where 'there' is. He never told us. He only told us his name was Billie. Not even a last name."

The two looked at each other, the fact that they had left a peculiar stranger alone with a witness they were in care of might have been a bad idea.

"Maybe we can reschedule on that dinner, because there is going to be some questions that need answering first," Scully said.

She was tempted to pick up the phone and call, just to check in on Nova. She knew she'd probably wouldn't pick up though, which would make her even more nervous.

She rubbed the spot in between her eyebrows that had began to pound. Kids were stressful.

* * *

Nova sat on the porch of the home for a hour, waiting for her brother to walk out of the brush of the forest.

She had cried three times while waiting, trying to understand what was going on with him, and felt like she was on the brink a fourth time when she saw him appear. She stood up and watched as he slowly walked the remainder of the field and up the steps, finally stopping after standing two feet from her, him still not meeting her eyes.

"What the hell was that William?!" she shouted, throwing her hands up.

It caused him to jump and he eventually looked up at her.

"No phone calls! None! You are risking your mother and father and all three sisters' safety by doing that! You are risking me and Mom and Dad's safety! You are risking YOUR safety! A cell phone is beyond traceable! You could be tracked down and taken back to your parent's by police as a runaway!"

She had started pacing as she screamed at William. He kept trying to talk, but he had to grab onto her shoulders to get her to listen.

"Nova, they know I'm here."

Her heart beat felt like hard kicks in her chest.

"W-what? What do you mean?" she whispered. Her eyes had began to burn.

"My mom and dad know I'm here to meet Mom and Dad."

She felt as if she had fallen off a fire escape, because all the air had been knocked from her body. Tears were falling straight down, hitting the porch like rain drops.

"What do you mean? You can't. They can't know."

William sighed. He was looking at Nova as if she was a child who was being told that their favorite dog wouldn't be coming home from the vet.

"I told them Nova. I told them that I had to go meet Mom and Dad for myself. I told them we found out a long time ago that we are related. That that's where you were and that I had to go on my own and meet my birth parents and make sure you were safe," he said. He felt his shoulders lighten as each truth came out, but Nova felt it was being dropped onto her.

She wanted to slap him so hard that he would fly into the field.

"Why would you do that! We had a plan!"

He took a deep breath and forced them both to sit down. Nova didn't want to, but she didn't have the strength to fight him either.

"Nova... I'm not staying here, with them. I'm going back home to Wyoming after I tell them who I am."

Nova felt a wave of black wash over her. She fell back, hoping that the smack of her head against the wooden porch would wake her up, and that she'd be back in her hospital bed with her mom holding her hand and a heart full of non-demolished dreams of her family.

* * *

Mulder and Scully were among thirty other agents as they surrounded a small cabin in the woods. They had tracked down the stolen security van and realized it wasn't far from where Nova was almost sacrificed.

They kicked in the door and all filed in, shouting and running in. They found him the cabin living room, resting in his easy chair. It seemed like a normal house, until someone turned on the lights.

All around him were pictures of girls, girls laid among flowers, a crown of daises placed on each of their heads. They looked like they were sleeping until the agents looked closer. It was the victims, all dressed in the same white dress and daisy crown. They weren't in a peaceful slumber, they were dead. And there was over forty dead girls on that wall.

Every gun was pointed at him, all of them wanting to fire the shot that would tear through his head. He smiled anyway.

"You're too late," he spoke, making every one in that room feel as if their skin was alive and trying to crawl away.

"Stand up," Skinner barked.

The man ignored him.

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder. Your children are in danger," he told them, his face worried.

"We don't have children," Scully squeaked, her voice coming out afraid.

"We both know that is not true. You aren't aware of it yet, but they are. Don't let them slip through your fingers," he said.

Before anyone had a chance to process the strange message, Jeremy Sawyer produced an empty syringe needle.

"The Witness will live on," he shouted as he drove the needle into his neck and pushed down the plunger.

People rushed to him, but his body slumped over before they could reach him. He was gone.

Scully and Mulder dragged their feet as the examined the scene. Every young girl's picture was removed from the wall. Their names and date of "prophecy" were engraved on the back. It was hard to look at each peaceful face, knowing what they had been put through and how their life had been cut short.

Scully was busy examining the body before the bus came to cart the body off to the morgue, but Mulder stayed close by. Both were shaken by his words. More so that he said 'children'. They had William, and he was somewhere else, safe and away from this mess. It could have just been a desperate attempt to scare them, but it didn't feel that way to Mulder.

Scully eventually backed away from the body.

"His mouth is full of blood from what looks like infected sores in his mouth. Possibly AIDS or some other type of infection. More than likely from drinking human blood. He would have no more than six months based on his condition. I'm not sure why the eyes have a purple tint though, I'm sure the M.E will find something," she said, even though it seemed she wasn't talking to anyone in particular.

Mulder was thankful that Skinner was going to have another M.E. do the autopsy. This case had been hard, and they were glad the main suspect had been handled.

Mulder wrapped his arms around her. They very rarely showed affection to one another while at work, but this was more or less to ensure neither of them fell to the ground. William left a gash in their hearts and anyone, especially someone so evil, made it ache at his mention. But it was different this time. This was sickening it hurt so much. They both knew the word children meant something different and no matter how much reasoning they did, they couldn't push it away.

Two agents appeared from a bed room down the hall, carrying what each girl seemed to be wearing in each photo. Scully and Mulder pulled away from each other to look up at the items up close.

The dress was long and white, the sleeves made completely of lace. The bodice was decorated in gorgeous pearls and the skirt was full and made of shimmering white lace. Their eyes continued down to see the trim of the skirt was stained with blood. Both agents looked away.

The crown was made of daises, hand woven and laced with ivy and baby's breath. It was gorgeous and made with care. The flowers were only beginning to wilt, suggesting that it was made within the last three days.

Another agent came out of the hall and into the living room holding a large wooden box.

"You're going to want to see this," he said.

Skinner opened the box and looked down at what seemed to be twenty more picture frames, only this time they contained no pictures. Skinner was not impressed.

"Flip them over," the young agent said.

Skinner did, and was nearly knocked over. There were names. The name of April Jeckler's to be exact.

Skinner began to go through the box. There were names of girls he had never even heard of before. They were engraved though, someone having already decided their fate. Skinner picked up the last frame in the box and he seemed to change colors.

He didn't move, he didn't breathe.

"Sir?" Mulder asked.

Skinner quickly whipped around and handed it to the pair with shaking hands.

Scully took it and flipped it over. She and Mulder felt like they were in a lucid dream.

 _Nova Scully_ was printed in large letters on a golden plaque.

Scully grasped the frame so hard she broke the glass, causing the shattered pieces to fall to the floor. Mulder took it from her. They looked at one another. Who was Nova Scully?

* * *

Nova woke up on the couch, just like she had a few mornings ago, only this time her brother was standing over her with a damp rag and a worried looked. He sighed when he saw her eyes.

"You had one of your fainting spells," he told her calmly, even though he looked like he had been crying.

Nova tried to sit up but he wouldn't let her.

"Nova, please let me tell you what's going on."

She looked at him and nodded. She trusted her brother, they were half of the same cell after all.

"I've always been scared of leaving. You know that. When you left, I had no one. I wrote you a letter every day. My parents made me see a therapist. I liked talking to her, but it just wasn't the same. You listen better than anyone I know. That's when I started to lean on my mom and dad. My sisters would tell me stories of how you were going to sketch the biggest mural on abandoned buildings. They were my rock when there was a piece of me missing. They love me Nova and I love them, just like I love you."

Nova looked at him through blurred eyes. She knew he was right.

"They are my family just as much as you are. We grew up together Nova. We have been being prepared for this moment since we were old enough to walk. Its always been about this. But why? Why do we have to leave everything we've ever known for something where we may not even be welcome? Nova I thought about this so much during those four awful months. I love my Mom and Dad. I can't just leave them without knowing where I'm going. I can't abandon them. So I told them I knew where you were and that I wanted to meet my birth mother and father on my own. I told them I'd be careful and let them know I got here safely. And I told them I'd be home in five days, because they are Mom and Dad to me. I don't want to leave them Nova. I'm not William Scully, I'm William Van De Kamp. I'm very proud that I am. So I am going home, and I want you to come with me."

This time she sat up. She felt betrayed and she wanted to hurt him, but she wouldn't.

"William. Those four months you got to sit and think? I was in the woods. I was traveling across the country on foot during a very wet winter. I was mugged once, I went three days without eating sometimes, I had to steal food. I went two weeks without bathing once because every river I came across was frozen. Those four awful months? THEY WERE HELL FOR ME!" She shouted in his face, pushing his arms away as she stood up.

"You told me the night I left that it would be all worth it! You told me this was what we were meant to do! I nearly died trying to get to Maryland. I WAS ALMOST SACRIFICED! WEIRD MEN WANTED TO DRINK MY BLOOD! But yes please tell me how that all was a waste of time and that I should go back and live in that horrible town where I was beaten up and live in the house right next to the one where I got Nan murdered in!"

"Nova you didn't-"

"Yes I did! I called her from this house and got her killed! How else would they know where she was?! What if I get you or your family killed? That's not okay William. You can't just change sides like this! You can't let me go through all this and say its for nothing! I don't have any family. Nan was the closest thing I had and shes dead William. DEAD. Mom and Dad are all I have!"

"NOVA THEY AREN'T GOING TO WANT YOU!"

William yelled and it seemed like the whole world went quiet, his eyes showed regret but his body said he was serious.

She looked down at her chest, because she felt she had just been stabbed in the heart.

William sighed with anger and he stood and grasped Nova's shoulders, but she knocked him off.

"Galaxy, you can't really think they are just going to accept you are their daughter. I mean, a secret daughter once is pretty insane, but twice? It's just not possible. You may be the same as me genetically, but she didn't feel you kick inside her. She didn't give birth to you. You were grown in a lab under a segregate. They reported my birth and they cut you out of her and put you in a chamber until The Lone Gunmen rescued you. You aren't their child, you are just made of stolen material."

Its always different hearing your worst fears come out of someone else's mouth, especially the one person who you always thought to be your defender.

"Is that how you see me? As a lump of stolen genetics? Do you even consider me your sister?" she whispered. Her whole body was trembling.

"Of course. You are my sister. My twin. I know that. But, that doesn't change how it is with them. They aren't going to accept it."

She began to shake so hard and her eyes were hurting. The lights began to flicker. William noticed and tried to calm her down by placing a hand on her arm, but it only enraged her. She screamed and the light bulb above them shattered and the whole house was sent into pitch black.

Just then they saw headlights approaching down the gravel drive and towards the house. Mulder and Scully were home. She turned in the direction of her brother.

"I'm going to go and collect my things. Since you are an expert on them, you can tell them who we are, or if you rather just you because obviously I am pointless. After that we walk to the city and we can catch a bus," she grunted.

She felt him sigh in relief.

"I'm glad you decided to come back home-"

Nova cut him off again.

"I never said I would come with you. I just said I will leave like you think is best. I will find my own way. I've done it before, I can do it again. I will go somewhere where no one cares how I came to be."

She felt the air was heavy and she trudged upstairs to collect her bag. She opened the door to the room she put her stuff in and saw that a lamp was still working. She arranged her bag to fit comfortably on her back. She came across her birth certificate, the real one.

Nova Katherine Scully, born May 20th, 2001. 6lbs 4ozs. Mother Dana Katherine Scully, Father Fox William Mulder.

A tear fell from her face and stained the paper. She left it on the desk along with a note written by her Uncle Richard telling Mulder and Scully who she was and why he had not told them about her.

She opened the picture frame of them and took out the cross and put it on her neck. She left the picture there too, hoping to forget what she had been living for up to this point.

She looked at the trinkets left on the desk before sniffling a sob and heading back into dark of the house.

That's when it hit Nova: There was absolutely no noise. She quickly found her way to the stairs and flew down them. She couldn't see and could barely see a car in the moon light outside. Then in a flash, a LED flashlight blinded her sensitive eyes.

"Syndicate 0273-FS, Ova 720-400-837. Most called you Nova. I've been waiting what seems like a lifetime to see you again."

Nova squinted, but couldn't see the man's face because he was using her brother as a human shield.

She went to lunge at him but two men came out from either side, forcing her mouth open and wedging a towel inside. She kicked and tried to scream, but all it did was crack her jaw.

She knocked at them and shattered a vase and lamp, but they didn't seem phased. They carried her out by the arms, hoisting her into the air and causing a cry of pain, but it came out as only a muffled groan.

They were both taken outside and bound at the wrist and ankles with rope by another man who had hid in the shadows.

They were thrown into the trunk of the car like groceries. Nova could now see him in the moonlight but he had no idea who he was. He was old and his face reminded her of a bulldog. There was something behind his ear. He smiled at her.

"You look so much like your mother, especially like this. I wasn't present when she was taken but I was given a pretty crystal clear picture and this was it."

He laughed at her.

"Its disappointing Krycek or the rest of the original members of the Syndicate weren't here. You were going to be their greatest creation, and I have to agree with them," he said, almost looking at her lovingly.

She felt gross and lunged at him, but only caused William to protest to her moving. He was under her and she was bony.

He laughed and shook his head before slamming the trunk. It only took a moment before the wheels began moving and they were being kidnapped, for the second time in a week for Nova. Maybe William was right. Maybe this just wasn't possible.

She began to cry as her dreams began to shatter around her. She felt so alone.

Then she felt her brother beneath her, rolling around to get out from under her. It took a moment but eventually they were side to side.

She felt his forehead press to hers. They began to cry together. They cried hard, for the death of Nan, the probability they were going to meet a dark fate after this car ride, and the death of a dream of an unrealistic family.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

_**Its been a while, but that is just because I have been working on this chapter for the last month! Its long to make up for the time it took to write! I hope you all like it! I'm also working on a special project with this fic I hope I get to share. Thank you guys for reading!**_

Mulder ended up in the driver's seat, willing to push the speed limit without a fear of being issued a ticket. Scully gripped the door handle, trying to get a handle on something while also having an escape route.

"Mulder, it doesn't necessarily mean anything," she huffed, her voice shaky. She looked over to the speedometer and saw it was reading 80 mph. She wished she had gotten to the car first.

"Scully. You can not honestly tell me that you are not curious as to what this means. Those photo frames had names of girls who actually lived in the area who were the same age and even the same body type, including April. They wanted to kill Nova. They wanted to put Nova in that horrible dress, take a picture, and hang it on the wall. He knew every real name. Why not Nova? She said herself there is no birth certificate or adoption papers. We never could find a Nova Langly. And damn it Scully she looks so much like you."

Scully looked at him. She felt horrified and she didn't know what to say.

"I had a dream that she was calling me Mommy. Just like the one with Emily," she broke the silence after a few minutes. She looked to Mulder and saw his eyes were shimmering.

She felt this anger boiling up inside her and she let out a horrible growling scream and hit the dash. She hit it over and over again. This was an anger like no other. She didn't notice Mulder had pulled over. He put his arms around her to get her to stop, afraid she may activate the air bag.

"This can not be happening! Not again! I can't handle this! She can't be another... Emily! There can't be a chance she is related to me. And if that is the case, who really is that boy? And how would she know she is related to me? How did she find us? What if-"

Mulder hushed her and made her look him in the eyes. Hers seemed to be moving a 100 miles a second.

"What ever it is Scully, we can handle it, together," he whispered.

Her eyes stilled and she nodded. Mulder was her safety. Mulder made everything seem like it would be okay, even if it was extremely weird and the exact opposite of okay.

Mulder put the car in drive and hit the gas. Scully was thrown back into her seat and she grabbed his knee to let him know to slow down, but it only made his heart beat faster.

It only took them 20 minutes to get to the house from the crime scene, which was double that. Mulder was lucky enough to have evaded any police.

He tore into their driveway, causing gravel to fly. Their hearts sank when they realized that the house was completely dark, inside and out. Both agents pulled out their guns and flashlights and carefully approached the front door.

They were trained to ambush criminal's hiding in different buildings and houses, but it felt weird that they were breaking down their own door. They did it anyway though.

"Nova? It's Mulder and Scully," Mulder yelled. He fanned his light around the room and reached for the light switch. He flipped it off and on, but no light came. He shined his light up and saw the bulb had shattered.

"How did this light shatter, still in its sockets?" he wondered aloud. He hadn't noticed Scully had moved ahead of him.

"Mulder," she said, her voice tense. He followed her sound and looked at her flashlight beam.

There was broken glass from a lamp that had been knocked off an end table and a vase that had also been knocked over just a few feet from it. There was also mud on the floor, even though there was no mud around the house.

Scully immediately flew into a panic.

"Nova! Billie! Yell if you can hear me!" she yelled, flying up the stairs.

Mulder was right behind her, hoping to shine the light on those big blue eyes he had really begun enjoying to see.

Finally, down the hall, they saw a light coming from the guest room. They high tailed it to the door, only to find the room empty and the battery operated table lamp having just been left on. Scully growled and was about to head outside when Mulder pointed.

"Scully, look. Its us," he whispered, stepping past her.

He picked up the photo frame. It contained a picture of Scully and Mulder in the office, both smiling, as someone snapped a picture of both of them in the basement, not stressing. He rubbed his thumb against the smooth surface as if he could touch the memory and go back to it.

Scully had picked up a piece of paper and seemed to have turned gray. Mulder put down the picture and glanced at what Scully had.

He felt a stone sink in his belly and leaned onto the desk for support.

"This doesn't mean anything," he said. Now he was being the skeptic.

"Mulder, you just said that anything was possible. This isn't a normal birth certificate. Its odd looking. I mean, I'm not ready to admit anything, but it does prove something is going on and needs to be answered as soon as possible," she said. She put down the birth certificate, no longer being able to look at it.

Mulder picked up the final item on the desk. An envelope addressed to the both of them. Mulder had just begun to open it when he heard Scully gasp.

"Mulder, her stuff is gone! She is gone!" she cried, covering her mouth.

It felt like a punch in the heart for both of them. They immediately sprung into action, Scully running around to double check the rooms and Mulder picked up the phone to call Skinner.

Mulder got his voice mail and hung up. He was hitting redial as he headed out the door to check outside when his flashlight beam revealed their first clue.

"Scully..."

Scully was their in a flash, panting from having been running around the house. She followed his beam to a discarded cigarette. This may have been no big deal, if someone in the house smoked.

"It seems like we may have had some unwanted visitors," Mulder sighed.

Neither knew what the hell could possibly be going on, but both knew it wasn't good.

* * *

Neither of them even tried to speak to each other, both slightly thankful for the gags in their mouths. They huddled against one another though, both shivering from the cold chill of the dark trunk. Emotions were high and it felt like Nova was being smothered. Her chest was hurting so badly she wanted to throw up. She wouldn't stop it, feeling her brother deserved to be covered in broken-heart vomit.

Nova wasn't sure how long the ride was, other than it seemed forever. Eventually the car did come to a stop and turn off. Both teenagers began to move around, trying to see where they were.

The trunk popped open and artificial light blinded them, but not for long. Each twin had a hood placed over their heads before being physically dragged and lifted from the car. They thrashed, but it did nothing against the boulder like men that carried them. Both of them knew it wasn't worth getting tired. They needed to be sharp and able to defend themselves.

They laid limp against the beefing men's shoulders. They were tied like a hunter's kill and they had no idea where they were or who had them. Today sucked.

Nova didn't know exactly where they were, but she could tell a few things. It was a large building with an underground parking lot. When they were removed from the trunk, she could feel the dampness of the air along with the lights and the sound of the men's shoes against heavy duty concrete. They also had mud on their shoes, but it was a clay like smell, suggesting that there was construction somewhere near by that caught a hold of their shoes.

The parking garage had a separate elevator. They originally got on one that smelled like feet and the sound of the doors closing was one that had two sets of doors, just like ones for service and cargo moving.

Also, after moving off of the first elevators, the floors changed to tile, the shoes sounding like clicks against the floor. She could also tell that the air was very clean and the lights were bright, she could see it through the hood.

They weren't sneaking around though. She could hear the old man talking to people and hear his laughter, even though he had two children gagged and bound. She couldn't imagine what horrible place would feel that was normal.

Eventually they got on another elevator and rode it up to the 9th floor, Nova very thankful that it made a ding with each floor. They exited and it sounded like a party had commenced.

They could hear cheering and hoots of admiration. These people were celebrating and Nova had a very sick feeling as to why: Her. They were cheering that they had successfully taken her. These people were the people who had created her.

Nova felt her whole body turn to stone. People began to pat the legs of the girl and pat her head through the hood. She wanted to crawl into the black head covering and disappear. She didn't want to exist.

The noises and touches soon stopped though and they were brought into an unbelievably cold room. The put her into a recliner like chair. Her arms and legs were untied, only to be handcuffed to the arm rests and having a belt tightened on her feet. Finally they removed the hood.

She squinted, her eyes watering as they adjusted to the light. It took a moment but eventually she was able to take in her surroundings.

It looked like a hospital room sort of. There was a metal table in the middle of the room. There were tv monitors along the wall opposite of her. There was another recliner on one side of her and just a plain metal chair on the other, which William was currently being tied to.

Everything seemed to suggest they were in a strange operating room until she noticed there were several drains in the floor. Some of them looked rusty, but she couldn't tell if that was the true source of the red color.

She also noticed every chair has leg stirrups, which her legs also currently sat in. There were little computers pushed against a wall, but not normal computers. There were other things that she didn't know what they were or were simply just pretending she didn't know. She whipped her head to the side and found the old man with a smug smile on his face, making the trach tube in his neck move.

"What the hell you nasty twisted fart!? Who are you?" she spit. William had just had his own hood removed and looked like a baby opening his eyes for the first time.

"Does your dad not talk of me? Ouch," he rasped. He smiled and put a cigarette into the tube in his throat. Nova grimaced.

"Well, I'm sure your family view is very messed up at this point of your life, so I won't add myself into that equation right now. All you need to know is that I am the man that ordered you and your brother. Now your brother is a story I don't feel the need to share because its not nearly as interesting as you my dear Nova."

One of his brutes pulled a chair in front of Nova. She wriggled under the restraints but knew there was no use. The old man smiled and put a hand on her leg. She wanted to scream.

"You were my greatest success. Your sister was a trial and she showed our mistakes. But you, you were beautiful. We needed your brother here so we had a... control for our experiments. You were the treasure though. Our very own alien hybrid, one for us to raise and study. You were going to be the key to a dominate race, that is until the Lame Gunmen learned about you," he said. He laughed at his piss poor joke.

Nova bucked her leg just enough to knock the wrinkly hand off.

"Do not speak ill of them," she growled. Her anger was growing, as was the dimness of the lights. The old man took notice and smiled, holding his hands up.

"They aren't as good as you think. You were going to be the answer. You were going to be our prize. They swiped you away in a laundry cart and we lost you. All of our work, all of our research, all of our love. We loved you Nova, and they took you."

"You didn't love me! I was a month old baby with radiation poisoning thanks to you! I have seizures! I'm sterile due to your stupid experiments. I can never be a mother! What ever you thought I held, I didn't. I was a tiny human that you forced into the world for some weird agenda. I wanted to be snuggled by my mommy and daddy, not be used for some weird race. I mean, you sound like Hitler!" she cried back.

She had never felt so much hate and anger. He was the source of all her problems. He made her. It was all him. She had suffered her whole life, and now he was telling her it was bad that she hadn't been kept as an extraterrestrial pin cushion? She bucked again and that's when the hand cuffs on her wrist began to vibrate. The old man looked like he had just gotten a glimpse of heaven.

"You have affects on metals," he whispered. She immediately seized it. She didn't want him seeing anything that he may call remarkable. His face fell when it stopped.

"Okay, fine. I understand. You view me as the bad guy. I am not though. We hold you on the highest pedestal Nova. We have been looking for you everyday since that June. We love you. We were going to take you to your mom and dad once your trials were completed. You were going to be Nova Scully and you would have known no differently. We had a plan for you. You were going to be your mom and dad's little doll. You were stolen by the same men who relocated your brother. It was them who did this," he said. He stood up slowly.

"Now you are back and our trials can commence. We even have your brother, so we won't need to find someone to be our local control. There is someone who wants to meet you though. Don't upset him, he has a gun. My friends here are going to make sure you behave. Oh and, don't think we won't have a problem killing you. Cloning has made amazing strides in the last ten years," he wheezed. With that he waved to the children before walking out. The men became a flesh barrier in front of it, sealing them in.

Tears were streaming down both of the teens faces. Nova reached out to him, and he to her, but they couldn't reach. William began to cry.

"N-Nova, I'm so sorry," he sobbed. Nova was shaking her head.

"Don't be. You were right about everything. If we had stayed, no one would have died. No one would be in trouble. We wouldn't be here. No one would want a kid like me in a situation like this. No one. And the thought that I had the right to rip you from your family..." She couldn't wipe the tears from her face. Her lip trembled as she tried to keep her cries as silent as possible.

"You are my family. You are my twin. You're my sister and best friend. It was so hard after you left. I wish it had been me in those woods. But I also realized I couldn't leave my mom and dad. They're my family and they didn't ask for this, but they also don't want me to leave you," he sniffled.

"They don't?" she asked. She wanted to wipe her nose so badly.

"No. And I don't want to either. I want us to stay together. We are two halves of a whole. But I don't want you to leave this. This is everything you ever wanted."

Nova laughed, causing to make snot fly from her nose, making her feel even more uncomfortable.

"This is not anything like I dreamed of. This sucks. And Will, you're right. Why would two middle age FBI agents just openly welcome a teenager, especially when I'm not the teenager they want. I wasn't raised by them, I was never on their minds or in their thoughts, I didn't even exist in their eyes. I'm named Nova not for Dad's love of the stars but because I am a stolen Ova planted inside of a woman who was named Nadia."

William looked at her, his eyes almost as red as his hair.

"I was wrong about that. I just get so mad sometimes. I shouldn't have said it. Galaxy, any one who meets you loves you. It may be hard to take in at first, but they did it before! I saw the way they looked at you today and how their voices were so soft and eager when they spoke to you. A part of me was jealous that they seemed so... taken with you. But another part of me was afraid you would choose to leave me completely. I'm sorry."

Nova smiled a sad smile. She hadn't thought about William's side that much or how things were affecting him. She felt so selfish.

She tried leaning into him and still couldn't reach. She hung her head over the arm rest and growled. She was beyond frustrated. That's when she heard a screeching noise. She looked up and saw her brother's face, only three inches closer than before.

She carefully looked back over shoulder to see the beefy men had not moved. Their eyes were closed and their chins rested on their unnatural sized pecks. They almost seemed asleep.

"Did you just-"

Nova turned back to Will and cut him off with a quick nod. She didn't want the door guards to overhear anything.

She looked at her brothers current situation. They had untied his ankles and his wrists from the original nylon rope, but tied his whole torso to the chair with thick chord. His hands were pressed to the sides of the chair itself and his ankles were secured to the legs with buckles.

"I think I can untie the rope around your body if I can get you a little closer," Nova whispered. She reached her hand as far as she could. She would be able to reach the chord if he was right beside her. It would take work, but she could do it.

"You can't just make the rope untie its self? The chair dragging across the floor is loud."

Nova looked her brother dead in the eyes. He could be a normal stupid teenager sometimes.

"No William, I'm not a fucking rope whisperer. Just shut up and let me do this," Nova said, her voice monotone and irritated.

William began to mutter stupid things like he did every time he was burned. Nova focused on his petty comments and allowed the craving of punching her brother in the face. It took a moment but the chair dragged across the floor again.

No one really knew what the connection was between Nova's annoyance or anger and being able to move metal objects. It was only one of many odd "powers" that Nova had that seemed to only be half ass and only useful in certain situations.

The screeching of the chair against the floor made Nova's breath stick in her chest. Every few moments she would stop and peer over to the guards to check if they had noticed. The longer they seemed to sleep though, made Nova more nervous than if they were staring her down.

It took about twenty minutes, but eventually Nova could reach the knot and began working on it with her closest hand. William fidgeted. He didn't like that he couldn't help.

"Too bad you don't have your knife," William said.

"Yeah. I won't ever be seeing that again. After I was kidnapped... the first time, it fell out of my pants somewhere. I have a feeling the cult got their hands on it. Its not like Nan would know anyway."

William froze and then relaxed, sighing quietly.

"I'm so sorry Nova. I'm so sorry for everything you have gone through. Not just the last year, but your whole life," he whispered, his voice sounding so faint.

"I'm sorry I exist."

William snapped his head back, trying to look at the girl.

"Don't say that. Don't you say that ever. Don't be sorry. You are great and smart and mystical. The lab and how they stole you from mom, thats not your fault. It doesn't make you. The universe would have made you either way and we would be here together with mom and dad. No matter what Nova, you would be the amazing and wonderful you and we would love you beyond measure. Don't think of other beginnings. Your present being and story are what matter."

Nova felt a smile flicker onto her face. She thought tears would come, but she was cried out. She felt the blush on her cheeks though and she shook her head. Her brother was good with words and helping her feel like she may actually be okay.

"I still have your fossil in my bag," she said. She continued to work on the rope around his torso.

"I knew you would keep it safe. But Nova, I think your bag is with these men. I could feel that the man who carried me had it on his back."

"How do you know it was mine?"

"It smelled like syrup and dirt."

The star twins looked at on another and both began to laugh. Nova never knew why, but that was her backpack's signature odor.

William tried to quickly shush them, remembering of the two men in the door way. They both looked. They were still statues.

"Why haven't they looked up? They would hear us talking and the noise of the chair would wake anyone out of the deepest sleep," William asked.

Nova looked at the men more closely, using her enhanced senses to get a better look. Nova had hated Nan's training with a passion, but she could not deny how useful it was.

It only look a moment to focus her vision enough so the red light beeping under the skin of their neck stuck out.

"Holy shit, they're chipped."

"What?" asked William. He was still upset that his powers seemed to be gone for good, but more so that he couldn't see what she saw.

"They have a red light under the skin. It is a chip of some sort because I know there is metal there, but there doesn't seem to be an electrical charge that I can feel."

"I bet when you got upset the first time and moved my chair, you also shorted out their wiring."

Nova let her eyes readjust for a moment before going back to work on her brother.

"That's the second time today I've messed with wiring. I haven't been able to do that successfully since I got my tetanus shot last spring."

Nova wiggled and pulled on the chord, slowly coming undone.

"What is that now? Power number five?" William asked, his voice revealing his jealousy.

Nova pretended not to care about the remark, but quickly made a tally in her head.

There was the ability to move metal and her scarily enhanced and sight, smell, and hearing. The connection with an electric current wasn't new, but it had been gone for nearly a year. She use to hear other people's emotional thoughts, but that had disappeared before she had turned seven thankfully. There was one other, but it hadn't been shared with any one out of promise to Nan and never used it so it didn't matter much anyway.

"Its number three. I don't include those I don't have anymore."

William rolled his eyes but smiled at his sister. She was modest and didn't enjoy the fact that she had abilities and he didn't. She had never rubbed it in his face. He craved to share that part of them with her, but her powers were always handy and he could appreciate that.

The rope from around his torso fell slack and both of them beamed. William removed it and undid the restraint belts at his face. He slowly stood up and then assessed his sister's situation.

Nova began to say something about the handcuffs, but William pulled up his shirt to reveal a strange pair of cargo pants. He pulled out a little zipper pouch from one and took out a bundle of bobby pins, ready for picking locks.

It took a minute, but Will freed his sister from the handcuffs and helped her with her ankles. She rubbed her wrists then got up and threw her arms around her brother. She kissed his cheeks with wet kisses.

"My criminally skilled hero."

He smiled and pushed her off. They both laughed. William then pointed to their next predicament. The two men standing in front of the only exit.

William went to walk over and check them out when Nova stopped him. She took off her shoe.

"Its best to stand back when trying to poke at the possibly dangerous animals," she said in a voice that was super close to a perfect imitation to his own mother. He gave her a look but he thought it was funny too.

Nova took the shoe and reared her arm back. Nan had taught her a lot about self defense and aim, and with that she let the shoe fly and hit one man directly in the face. He didn't even flinch.

"Its safe," she told her brother, running over to retrieve her shoe.

He followed, looking at the door.

"There's a key pad! We can't get out! Even if we could move these guys," he said, throwing his weight against one of them. It sounded like he had just thrown himself into a brick wall. He rubbed his shoulder in pain.

Nova adjusted her shoe and then began to look at the men and dig through their pockets. William looked at her.

"Nova, are you seriously pick-pocketing these men?"

She began pulling out key rings and even a set of car keys. They also had a tiny gun of some sort on each of them. Nova took one and threw one to William. He caught it only barely.

"It goes to better use for us. And pick pockets steal from people who aren't aware. I was in these men's faces and they didn't even stop me."

She took what she could find and then examined the room. No doors other than the one, and their were no windows of any sort. Nova looked around and threw her head back in frustration. That's when she noticed the roof was made of panels.

She ran and jumped onto the chair she had been tied to and stood on the arm rests. She couldn't reach it. She felt a tap on her shin. Her brother had poked her with a selfie stick.

"Why do you have a selfie stick?" she asked. She understood why he had tapped her so she took it, but she was still rather curious.

"I find it as more of a multi tool," he said smugly.

She knocked the panel out of its brackets with a huge smile.

"I've just found our way out."

* * *

It had taken an hour for Skinner to make it to the Scully-Mulder residence, but he threw open the door into a living room full of candles.

"Hello? I'm here, but if you don't have your clothes on, I'm gonna go."

His voice carried through the old house and it almost seemed to echo. Mulder and Scully appeared though, almost in sync from two different ends of the home.

Skinner secretly let out a sigh of relief that he hadn't walked in on anything romantic.

"Now, what the hell? Have zombies busted through the dirt because why else would you call me seven times and leave me four voicemails that I couldn't understand?"

Scully looked at Mulder.

"I told you it wasn't on speaker!"

"Then why else was it so loud?!"

"Because you have the volume on too high Mulder!" she shot back. Her voice was tense and Skinner immediately realized something was really wrong.

Scully covered her face and stepped back into the hallway. Mulder's shoulders slumped and he walked to Skinner as if his shoes were made of concrete.

"Nova is missing," he told him.

"What?! AGAIN?!" Skinner screamed. He felt if he was under water.

Mulder handed him a plastic baggy and Skinner stepped closer to the candles to look at it's contents.

"Its a cigarette?" he said, turning it over in his hands to look for more evidence.

"It was in the house when we got back and Nova and her friend were not," Mulder sighed. Skinner's head shot up.

"What friend?" Skinner said.

Scully reappeared, her hair a mess and her eyes scared. She tried to appear like the tough federal agent she was, but it was nearly impossible to hide that much stress.

"Billie. Billie... Wait did he tell us his last name?" she asked Mulder.

She threw her hands up with a growl.

"How did we even let him into our house without his last name!"

Mulder walked over to her and wrapped her in a tight, warm hug.

"We trusted Nova about him. We don't know anything," he reminded her softly, placing a tender kiss on her head.

Scully bit the inside of her cheek. It wasn't just the fact that Nova trusted him. She trusted him too for some reason.

"Look guys, I hate to say this... But she probably ran away. This Billie shows up and you leave. Then you return and she and her stuff are gone along with the boy. She probably called him in the hospital and told him where she was. She was pretty freaked out, rightfully so. I don't find it completely irrational that she leave with someone. In fact, it seems rational."

Mulder looked to Skinner, then down at Scully. She had a strange look on her face that he could not place other than it looked hurt.

Skinner stepped forward, placing the baggy on a coffee table. He sighed uncomfortably and placed his hands in his coat pockets.

"Look I will put out an APB for her, but maybe this is what is best."

Mulder was pushed aside by Scully, stepping forward towards Skinner.

"Are you saying that a young girl who has already been through hell knows what and was nearly SACRIFICED belongs on the streets with some sort of boy next door stranger? A girl who was safe with us?" she hissed, pointing her finger harshly back at Mulder.

Skinner stepped closer, hoping the soft look on his face would calm her a bit. He gently pushed down her pointing arm.

"What I'm saying is that you both seemed extremely attached to this girl. And before either of you say something, everyone noticed it. She would've had to been placed into a permanent foster home within a month anyway and after everything you two have... _gone through_... that isn't a good idea," he told her.

Scully opened her mouth to speak but felt her eyes burn instead. She quickly bit her lip and looked at the floor. She refused to let him see her cry.

Skinner walked to the door, the night noise of outside flooding into the living room as he opened it. He stepped outside and then looked back at the pair in the house. They both look defeated and it caused an ache deep within his chest.

"As soon as I hear anything, if I do, I will notify you both immediately," he said before stepping into the night. The light of his head lights poured in and splashed onto their faces before they pulled away and left them in the dark shadows where the candle light did not reach.

Mulder put his hands in his pockets and his fingers fell upon the letter that he found on the desk with Nova's other things.

He saw a tear glide down Scully's cheeks and he instinctively reached out to wipe it. He pulled out the letter and as he wiped her face, her eyes fell upon the white envelope.

"Whats that?" she squeaked. Mulder looked at this woman who kicked ass, including his own, on a day to day basis and here she was seeming more timid and tiny than a field mouse.

He held the letter up into some candle light.

"Hopefully some type of answer."

* * *

" _Down here all the fish is happy_

 _As off through the waves they roll_

 _The fish on the land ain't happy_

 _They sad 'cause they in their bowl_

 _But fish in the bowl is lucky_

 _They in for a worser fate_

 _One day when the boss get hungry_

 _Guess who's gon' be on the plate?_ "

The musical question was swiftly met with a thump in the butt. Nova stopped and craned her neck to give her brother the nastiest look she could muster and possibly a kick in the face.

"You don't know where these ducts lead to or how well they carry your tune. Why are you singing that anyway? The Little Mermaid?" he asked in a husky whisper.

Nova had begun crawling again, her knees already becoming sore from moving through the ducts.

"I've just had it stuck in my head. Plus I haven't seen it in a long time. I really want to watch it for some reason," she said softly. She didn't have to turn to him for him to hear because the ducts did carry sound really well.

They crawl in silence for many more minutes before Will grabbed onto Nova's shoe, signaling her to stop. She froze in place and looked out of the grates of a vent opening below them.

Down below was a room with two rows of metal tables, a body on each one. At first it appeared to be a morgue until Nova realized that each body was breathing and had their heartbeat monitors creating healthy thudding sounds that filled the room.

She pressed her face as close as she could without falling through. Each patient, two men and two women, were hooked up to brain activity monitors and oxygen measurement monitors. They also had multiple IV's that connected to bags of different liquids, one clear, one red, and one a very strange green.

Her throat went dry at the sight of them. There were no signs pointing to it, but Nova knew deep down that these people were experiments. A few of the men and women that were used because Nova was no longer there.

She looked at her brother, angry. Why had he showed her this? He pointed down again and she followed his finger and saw the real spot of interest. There were two more brutes, almost identical to the two Nova had broke. They were sitting in two hospital recliners with a very thick needle and tube inserted into their wrist.

"What is tha-"

William was cut off by the sudden shutter and collapse of the vent grate that was supporting them. They both hit the ground with a groan. It took a minute to regain complete awareness, but both were greeted with the two brutes standing above them.

Their pupils took up their whole iris. Neither twin could even see their color. Their skin was clammy and their muscles tensed.

The two Scullys split, lunging and rolling behind two different tables. The brutes growled and one picked up a chair, hurling it into the metal cabinets on the other side of the room. Both of the brutes ran towards the tables. They ran with such fury that one managed to push over one of the metal tables that had been bolted into the ground, sending the unconscious woman on it to the ground.

"Holy shit we are going to die," Nova whispered. Will ran across the center isle between the tables, just dodging a flying IV pole.

"Think positive," he said back, out of breath. Nova looked to her brother.

"We are going to die quickly," she said back. Her voice had no venom, only fear. William was not use to seeing her like this.

He grabbed her shoulders, the two big guys still throwing stuff. Their muscle mass was big but their IQs must've be small.

"We are the star twins. You and I are the same cell, split and grown in two extraordinary ways. Our lives have been nothing but an uphill battle, even before you left to be Bear Grylls. We will not die at the hands of two over grown neanderthals!"

Nova looked deep into her brother's eyes and saw a spark of intense bravery she had never seen before. The corner of her mouth turned into a grin even though she was on the verge of pissing her pants from fear.

She nodded at him and then stuck her hands in her pockets. She hadn't grabbed anything useful. She never put her kit of lock picking goodies back in her pocket. She looked to her brother. With a smile he pulled out his selfie stick again. The hope that he had managed to instill in her, he managed to drain out of her again.

"Just trust me," he said with his sweet smile. It took a moment but she nodded.

William told her what to do and she went and got into place before giving him a thumbs up. She watched as his eyes peered over the table they hid behind.

"HEY UGLY WIMPS!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

With that, the two brutes stopped trashing to room and came after Will. Nova reached up and grabbed the IV tubing that hung dangling from where they sat. The poled clattered to the ground, shattering the glass vile hanging from them, the fluorescent green liquid pooling on the ground.

Just then William jumped on the table and reeled his arm back, quickly and violently bringing down the selfie stick on each forehead. A gash immediately appeared, blood trickling down their faces. They stumbled back, both stunned from the blows.

Nova quickly came behind them, kicking them both in the back of the knees. Their knees buckled and they fell forward. William then applied pressure to the back of their shoulder blades. It caused them to cry out and it made them both cringe.

Yes, these men had attempted to kill them, but they didn't seem completely aware. Like they were programmed to do it.

Nova quickly tied their wrists with the tubing. Both were still in pain but were beginning to fight back again. William nodded and Nova sighed. They had originally considered shooting them both in the foot with the tiny guns, but that didn't sit well with either of them.

"Just a little pressure to the Bronchial Plexus.."

With a single touch on both men's neck they were out like a light. Nova laid each on their side so they wouldn't have cramps. William smiled. His sister was a trained ninja, but she still didn't like the idea of people waking up with cricks and pains.

"I think we should take the door this time," Nova said.

William thought at first his sister had gone nuts, but realized she was right. There had been no alarms since they broke free of the room. They didn't know they were missing yet. The hallways outside were silent.

"We are gonna have to find an exit quickly," he said. She nodded in agreement before opening the door and sticking her head out.

"Holy shit," she said. William quickly ran up behind her.

"What? What?!"

She opened the door further and William poked his head out. Right there to the left of the door was a fire escape.

They quietly filed out and stood in front of it, scared to touch it.

"What's the catch?" Nova asked. William understood what she meant. Nothing good or easy ever happened to people like them.

"Well, there will be an alarm that goes off," he said, stating the only point he could find.

"Yeah, but we can hide somewhere outside where they can't find us before they even find which door was opened," she rebutted back.

They both shrugged and pushed open the door. Thankfully there was a small delay to the alarm, giving the twins the perfect amount of time to push the door closed behind them and begin their descent down the fire escape.

They could hear small amounts of commotion from each door they passed on the way down, but none were opened.

They were already hiding among the dumpsters of a building three parking lots over before outside lights on the building turned on. They must have found out they had escaped.

Nova and William huddled together as they caught their breath and remained quiet. Cars were rushing past, leaving the parking garage of the scary Syndicate building. It took about an hour before either felt safe to talk.

"Do you know where we are?" William asked, his voice sounding sleepy.

Nova had been trying to place where they were since they found their hiding spot, but she couldn't even begin to muster up an idea.

"No, nothing looks even slightly familiar. I know we aren't near a major city. The industrial smell is nearly nonexistent," she sighed. Her nose did wonders when it came to identification and placement, even though she hated the fact that she could pick apart the contents of the dumpster beside her.

William dug in his pockets again and pulled out his phone. Nova rolled her eyes at the sight of it. She was glad it was dark so William couldn't see how much she hated the little device.

"Whats Mom and Dads numbers? Did they give them to you?"

"No. The only time I was away from them was when I was being given as an offering, so I was kind of busy and couldn't call them."

William was the one to roll his eyes this time.

"Great, we are lost and have no one who can help us."

Suddenly Nova remembered something. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a tiny business card. It felt like the Golden Ticket from Willy Wonka to her in that moment.

She held it out to her brother and he took it, looking it over.

"Punch in the number and when they answer give it to me. I think someone is willing to do me a favor."


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**_So I took a surprise hiatus. I had so much going on with my life and trying to get started in my acting career! But I hope to keep writing this as I love it so much. Nova has become a part of me. I would like to be able to do the project I was planning but I am unsure. To make up for four months of no Nova, here is two chapters. I just got cast for another role and it may be a few weeks at least before another chapter, so hoping you love these two. Nova isn't going anywhere!_**

* * *

 _Dear Mulder and Scully,_

 _Sit down. Take a deep breath. Excuse my penmanship for I am writing in the car._

 _There is no right way to start this. There is no easy way to say it. I think the best way to explain it is from the very beginning._

 _This year, you gave birth to William. Its a miracle that he is here. He is loved and cherished and a true light in such a dark world. He isn't the only light though._

 _There was a little, precious infant girl, was also born this year, on the same day, just an hour after William. They call her Nova. While there are many babies born each day, these two being born so close together is a part of what makes them spectacular. That is because it wasn't a coincidence or random. It was planned. These two share a fate so large that the most unspectacular thing about them is their mirrored births. Its been in motion since Scully was abducted and Emily passed away._

 _Nova is a Syndicate. Yes, the same thing as Emily. She was born through a surrogate. Not a willing surrogate but she was grown in a strangers womb for nine months. She was born into a cold lab where people treated her like a science project. Injecting her with dangerous liquids and bathing her in radiation. We knew of her, what she was to us. To them. To you. We kept an eye on her and saw her dying. We hoped that their plans for her would work out and that she would grow to be healthy, but we saw the light being drained out of her eyes. We saw a baby with no idea of love or hope. We couldn't let her die. Not again._

 _We used our knowledge of the building and sneaked in dressed as handymen and janitors. It worked and we simply lifted her out of the incubator where she laid. She did not cry when I held her. She looked unconcerned. We placed her in a laundry bin and John stole all of the medications they had put her on to heal what they had done to her in the "name of science"._

 _We are traveling to the place where I know she will be safe and cherished. My sister that many never knew of resides in Wyoming. She can not have children. Her name is Natalie and she is a gorgeous soul who I love and trust more than anyone. That's why we are rushing Nova to her this very moment. I watch her sleeping, her cheeks swollen and bruised. I look to her and all I can see is you._

 _I know you are wondering why this concerns you. Why her history is so important to you two._

 _I have rewritten this line several times but I think the best way to put it is bluntly:_

 _Nova is your daughter. She is made of the exact same ova that made William. Both of your stolen genetic compounds were kept guarded in the lab of the Syndicates. It took detailed and nearly impossible planing to plant William inside of you with the help of Mulder that I truly do not understand nor could I even begin to accurately imagine how._

 _William was the control. Nova was split from your ova and then was combined with an X chromosome from Mulder before being planted into the womb of a kidnapped prostitute. They filtered your stolen blood into this woman along with crafted oxygen and chemical compounds to ensure that no foreign genetic material influenced her growth or makeup. A perfect pregnancy._

 _She was born on the same day as William due to the fact that the Syndicates operated on the woman. A beautiful baby girl with big blue eyes and long eye lashes. She should have been placed into your arms next to your son, but instead she was placed on a metal table and whisked away._

 _At first they called her 'Ova Scully', but to "memorialize" the woman who grew her for nine months, they took the first letter of her name (Nadia) and added it to Ova. They laughed and made fun that it also meant Stars since she was a fabricated alien and her true father was engrossed with space and the supernatural._

 _It took a full month to rescue her, but now I sit beside her. Her tiny hands are clenched in fists and her eyelids flutter. I wonder what shes dreaming about. Hopefully its pleasant._

 _She will be safe with my sister. She will grow up with her brother too. They won't be able to be apart for long. They are two halves of a whole that makes up you both. You will meet her. She will serve a purpose large and wonderful and secretly ensure that this world will not drop down the shit hole. She will come to you and you need to know, she will need you._

 _My sister knows about you both and promises to tell her all that there is to know. She knows that at a certain age, Nova will leave her and come to you. Please don't turn her away. She is only a month old and yet one of the strongest people I know. I'm not sure how soon it will be until William goes searching for Nova, but that will happen. Don't stop it, at least if you some how get this letter before that._

 _We aren't going to tell you. Not just for you and William's safety, but Nova too. It has to happen the way the galaxy has planned it. She will come with a heart full of love and a life full of loss. You mustn't add to that loss._

 _She sits beside me, her eyes open now. She's looking at me. She looks like she is studying me, just like you both. I wonder what she thinks of me._

 _Please, don't close your mind to this. She did not ask for this. But she does deserve a family. Her family. She is full of mystery and beauty. She glows like her mom and moves like her dad. She is a secret for now. We can't tell you. She would be in danger. William would be in danger. You would be in danger. Forgive us for hiding her, but it won't be forever._

 _Your daughter just cooed. I think that's a sign._

 _Yours Truly,_

 _Ringo_

* * *

The wind blew through their hair violently. When they had called Charlotte, they hadn't expected her to be so eager or know where they were or show up in some type of jeep. She had though and they were driving down the road at 80 mph, gripping onto their seat belts in fear they would fly off. Maybe they should have given second thoughts to climbing in the vehicle.

They hadn't had many options. The men were getting closer and closer, their voices carrying through the parking lot clear as day. The weapons they had stolen were tranquilizers and only held two shots each. They quickly dumped them just in case and were just about to run when Charlotte had thankfully whipped into the parking lot and sped away as soon as they had both feet on the floor boards.

Nova had tried to ask where they were going, but the wind was rushing around them so fast, it seemed to suck the voice right out of her. Thankfully with Will though, they didn't need to speak. She looked to him and he met her glance.

His eyes shared the same concern. Something about this escape seemed too easy, but with the gun fire that was growing more distant with each minute, they allowed themselves to sit and regroup.

Nova wasn't sure where they were or exactly where they were headed, but she could tell they weren't heading in the same direction that they had came. The earth smelt more wet and mulch grew stronger. Nova was almost certain they were heading into farm land.

She would have used William's phone to pinpoint which direction they were heading, but William had dropped it running to the jeep and it still hadn't turned back on. She looked over to see her brother no longer had it in his hands. She wondered if he still had it or had chunked it when he realized it was just a paper weight after the blow it had taken.

It only took about forty five minutes before the jeep turned off road, bouncing it's passengers relentlessly. It was enough to jostle the twins awake from their short moment of allowing themselves to doze off.

Mud was slung up from the ground and rained upon the children in the back. Growing up in Wyoming, mud was no new territory so it didn't bother them much. Neither could speak to each other and both were too exhausted to come up with any type of plan, so they let the mud be slung, neither caring much.

It took ten minutes before the first light pole popped up. It wouldn't have spiked Nova's curiosity if had been on the side of the road, but this pole was in the middle of an empty field, at least twenty miles away from the nearest civilizations.

They passed one again two minutes later, only this one blinked like those at the airports. The ones that followed were the same, seeming to wink at her as they passed. She looked over to Will and saw that he had noticed them as well. They shared a glance and both nodded. They needed to escape before they were roped into what ever those light poles were marking.

Before they could unfasten their seatbelts though, Charlotte pulled out a handheld intercom and radioed to someone that they couldn't hear over the rushing wind. She hung up quickly though and looked back at the children before giving them an encouraging smile.

The wind suddenly stopped as they drove into a cave like structure, the only light coming from the fading moon glow of the night. There was a mechanical whir and soon even that was gone, a door shutting them out from whatever type of freedom they may have had.

Then flood lights came on, blinding them just like when their heads had been removed from the hoods. They blinked and adjusted and saw that Charlotte had begun to unbuckle Nova, her eyes not seeming to have been affected. She helped Nova down and then moved to William, but he didn't appreciate feeling like a baby being removed from a car-seat nap. It gave Nova time to track and absorb her surroundings.

It seemed they had driven into some type of bunker, almost where someone may keep a stash of zombie apocalypse survival supplies. It was empty besides the jeep and the only things on the wall were what seemed to be cameras and other electrical components. There garage door had a bolt mechanism on it that locked it into place, sealing them like a can of peaches. The only other exit was a large set of double doors on the opposite end, which Nova assumed was their next destination.

As soon as Will was on the ground, Charlotte began moving quickly towards them.

"Come on kids, there is a lot that we need to talk about," she said, looking back to check that they were following.

Nova looked to her brother and shrugged before stepping to match the woman's jog. They couldn't go anywhere else, so it might as well be done without force.

The doors opened and revealed a large elevator. Again, they didn't question it but just stepped on. The elevator only had one button and Charlotte mashed it, causing the doors to slide into place and they lurched down. Nova wasn't sure about going under ground.

It took a moment before it stopped and the doors eased open, warm light flowing into the metal box. There was calm chatter and the soft blanket like feeling of a running heater suddenly made Nova realize she was shaking, and not just from the outside chill.

Charlotte smiled and stepped into the hallway, ushering for the cold and dirty children to follow. They did even beyond better judgement.

Nova was taken back by the area she had stepped into. The walls of the hallway were painted with a beautiful mural of children of all ages and ethnicity. They played in fields of flowers and lakes. There were even children painted on the moon, sleeping as if the stars were their favorite comfy chair.

The whole span on the hallway was painted, leading to yet another set of double doors. These doors did not match the feeling of the painting. They loomed over Nova, made of dark metal that was welded into the wall. There were three keypads, making the girl fear of what exactly was so concerning that they had to seal it in behind of the door.

Charlotte stepped in front of her view of the dark passage. She smiled wide and took a deep breath. She seemed to be bristling with excitement. Nova cocked her eyebrow, hoping she would get on with it. She must have got the hint because she opened her arms wide and gestured around her. She spoke loud and proud of the place they stood.

"Welcome to the SRA building, where all our rescued syndicates live."

* * *

Scully had not picked her head up from the arm of the couch since Mulder had uttered the final line of the letter. He was washing his face, trying to wipe away any sign that he became ill, but he could still hear her sobs.

It was something beyond words to have to give over your child. To give away the one person you loved more than anything measurable, knowing they were better off not knowing you or needing you. But to have a child stolen from you and put through a life of things any parent would strive to shield from their baby, without even knowing. That left a hole in his heart more painful than any wound he could sustain.

Scully pushed up the bathroom door, making Mulder jump. He hadn't heard her get up. He looked down at her face. It was so pale. It seemed she had aged right in front of him. The light that Nova had brought into her eyes, she had taken with her when she disappeared.

"Mulder, we have a daughter," she uttered.

He nodded. It was hard for either of them to even consider, but when they read the letter from Ringo, something in them clicked. A flood gate was released and Nova flowed through them. No amount of reason could knock the certainty they felt in their hearts. Aliens were beginning to seem simple.

"I know," he said back. He brushed hair away from her face. It was stuck to her from crying snot, but he didn't care.

They stood there, silent, holding onto one another. Neither was sure how long it took, but eventually Scully broke away, her back straight and her fists clenched. Her eyes were icy and dry and it almost scared Mulder. It was like the pity had drained from her and was now replaced with hot rage.

"Lets go get our child," was all she growled as she turned and headed for the door.

* * *

Nova wasn't sure what to think. Her and William seemed to be in a trance as they walked through the huge dome that Charlotte referred to as their 'business quarters'. It was a dome shaped space, three levels high. Each floor had a long balcony like hallways that stretched the whole circle. There was doors visible from where they stood and Nova assumed they were offices.

There were men and women walking but also peering down at the children. They seemed happy to see them, even waving. She looked to her brother to see he was waving back. She smiled, thinking of how much he was like Mulder.

Even though they were underground, it didn't feel like it. The air was light and dry, not damp like she expected. The lighting felt almost natural, as if the sun were shinning in from windows she just didn't see. There were even trees in pots on the level they were on. She ran her hands over their bright green leaves and quickly realized they were real.

Charlotte finally came to a door and placed her badge on a keypad, causing a chime and a click, allowing them entrance into a new hallway. It felt more like an office with linoleum floors and beige walls. She took another left and finally entered another door that led them into a room that looked like a steam room.

She walked over to a large cabinet and riffled through it for a minute before returning with small plastic tub filled with items to each teenager.

"We have to make sure any outside germs are washed away before we let you into the common area and living quarters of SRA. Many of the kids have health problems and we have to make sure they stay as healthy as can be," she said.

Nova looked to William who shrugged again. They had questions and very little trust, but they were covered in mud and it was only a shower.

"Nova you can enter the shower room on the left, and William on the right. When you're done, just exit out of the other door. It will lead you right to me."

Nova walked to the door and pushed it open, but not before sharing another look with William. It felt weird and almost like a bad idea to leave him, even if just for a little bit. It was the first time they had been separated since he found his way to her and she didn't want to leave him. She was afraid they would take him.

"Its okay Galaxy," he whispered to her before disappearing into the shower room.

Nova walked into the room that was floor to ceiling tile with a drain in the middle and a shower head against the opposite wall. There was a little shelf where Nova sat her tub. There was one bottle of soap. 'Body and hair' were written on it by hand. Simple instructions.

She walked over to the shower head and pressed the button and the water poured like a waterfall from it. She quickly got undressed and stepped under the current. She let out a little screech, the water being much hotter than she originally expected. She enjoyed it until it hit her wrist.

She had forgotten all about the stitches in her skin and the wrap that covered it had fallen off sometime in the commotion of the day. She would have to ask to see someone about it, but for now she focused on the shower.

The water was beginning to burn her skin though, and she wanted to get out. She knew hot warm killed germs, but she was pretty sure she was boiling.

She quickly popped open the bottle and poured it into her hair and over her body. It tingled on her skin and scalp. Her skin began to feel lighter and soft. Whatever they had given her felt like it had given her new skin.

She let it sit for a moment before stepping back under the painfully hot water and rinsing it off. She made sure it was all off of her before pressing the button to shut off the water.

She quickly jogged over to the corner to her bucket, looking for her towel. She dumped the bucket, suddenly distressed. There was no towel in the box. She could tell Charlotte, but that meant she would see her naked, and that would not fly. She looked around and saw another button on the wall. She hoped this one was an intercom.

She pressed it and suddenly warm air came at her from all directions. A scream escaped her, stunned by the current. She wasn't sure how loud it came out as, but she wasn't necessarily prepared for a wind tunnel that seemed to be coming at her from all directions.

The air cut off almost as quickly as it had come on. She looked to see her skin was completely dry and her hair nearly there as well. She had just been blow dried! By the ceiling. She wouldn't admit it, but this place had some cool features. If their showers were this convenient with technology, she wondered what the rest of the facility was like.

She picked up the contents of her bucket and found the clothes they had provided. It was underclothes and a jumpsuit. It was full bodied and had pockets and little design to it. Nova threw it on to find it fit her perfectly. It creeped her out, but it was so comfortable and light that she decided to just roll with it.

Nova opened the door to find Charlotte sitting right outside it. She lit up at the site of her.

"Oh don't you just look peachy in the jumpsuit?! They're made to protect the kids from outside germs getting into the skin, but they're also perfect for any temperature. It ensures the wearer never sweats and even ensures the person will stay hydrated and alert us if their temperature isn't in safe range!" she chimes.

Nova can't help but stare at her. Charlotte hadn't yet explained who she was or why she was there or what the hell this place was, but she felt it was a good idea to give background information on the clothes she was wearing.

Charlotte must have sensed that Nova didn't really want to hear about the suit because she cleared her throat and stood up, all business like. She took the bucket from Nova and then wrapped her arm around the girl, guiding her down the hall.

William was standing near a door waiting for the two. He looked rosy and his hair shiny and soft. He looked much better but unfortunately his eyes were still sad and he wore his tension like a cape.

She walked over to him directly and took his hand, squeezing it. It was a small gesture, but she wanted him to know he wasn't by himself. He squeezed back and she smiled. Together as one.

Charlotte cleared her throat, trying to get the two's attention. They reluctantly looked to her. Whatever she had to say would ultimately lead to something complicated.

"There is a lot we have to discuss, but I think you both need to eat first. I'll take you into the community now and you can grab some dinner before we meet. We will answer any and all questions then. Tonight is taco night though and you really don't want to miss out on that."

William and Nova weren't a hundred percent sure as to why they agreed to it, but they followed her despite every part of their brain protesting. Stomachs would secure the win. Plus everything so far had turned out to be okay.

The common area was like a huge underground city. They gaped at it's size and beauty. Charlotte seemed to beam at their amazement of it all. It seemed they had entered into the very top of the space as they looked down on the underground city. It was built in a way that resembled a cruise ship, being able to see each level, yet not how intricate each level truly was.

Nova hadn't realized it, but she had stopped to peer over the edge of the railing down on the mole people town. At the bottom sat a brick laid circle with benches and potted plants, almost like a resting area you would find in a public park.

"Down there is what we call Normal City. It wasn't originally called that, but some of the kids started picking fun at it and it unfortunately stuck," Charlotte said, joining her at the edge.

"Basically its a whole town. What you're looking down at is the town square. If you follow the paths that break off into what looks like hallways, you will find different shops and such where the kids are allowed to spend their allowance. Teenagers will work the shops once they reach 16 to build skills to use in higher jobs as they get older or outside in the world if they choose that path."

Nova turned to her, surprised.

"You let them leave?"

"Well of course. We are not like our counterparts Nova. We protect and raise the children and refuge and purpose for our adults if they wish it. We do not keep them against their will."

Charlotte left with that and began her walk to the cafeteria again. William was right behind her, his interest peaked as well.

"What are the other three levels for? Like the one we are walking on and the two below it?" he asked, his curiosity showing plain as day.

"They are the levels that hold the apartments for our adult or unit living quarters and staff quarters and the level we are walking along now holds the medical wing along with our laundry department. It also holds the pent house and office quarters of our supervisors and founder."

"You aren't the one in charge?" Nova asked.

Charlotte shook her head as she pulled out her badge again. She didn't hold it out to unlock the door though, but instead turned to face the children.

The twins looked to see that Charlotte was marked with Level 2 clearance.

"No, we are a community guided by many leaders, but our supervisor is the one who watches over all orders and ensures that the Syndicates here live in a safe but also somewhat normal environment. She is the mother of this operation and makes sure all is well for all of us. She is basically our president and you will meet her soon enough."

Unsure if that was a threat or suppose to comfort them, they said nothing and let her unlock the door to what they hoped would be the end of their tour.

* * *

"You are going to let us into this room and you are going to do it right now!"

Scully was furious, her face slowly reaching the same shade as her hair. The young security guard she was barking at was pressed against the wall, his hands on his belt. Mulder wasn't sure why the FBI had recently hired so many young security guards. They seemed more like little kids playing a very dangerous game of dress up.

Mulder placed his hand on Scully's shoulder. He felt her tension release some from his touch. They both felt so hollowed out that neither was themselves. They weren't sure they would ever be those people again.

"Special Agent Scully, I can't let you into the records room unless you are given clearance. It is the middle of the graveyard shift, no one of that power can do that right now. But if you ask your superior-"

Scully turned to stone suddenly and clenched her jaw. The guard seemed to squeak.

"I can't ask my superior. You won't either, do you understand? Our visit here tonight is just a hazy memory you aren't sure isn't due to an overly strong blunt you smoked on your break. This has to do with a child, our child and I suggest if you want to keep this job you will do just that because if not, we will show you why we were banished to the basement."

Mulder released Scully now. The mother in her had come out and she was ready to tear apart anyone in their way to her baby.

There was a moment of severe tension before the young man punched in several codes before they heard the lock disengage. Scully opened the door and walked past him without a final word, knowing he would keep his end of the "bargain". Mulder was sure that if he did continue his job at the FBI, it would be on the top floor, as far from the basement as possible.

Mulder joined her in the records room, absently following. It was like his head was filled with dark ocean water. He felt cold and he could not hear anything or see what was in the water. All he could see was a light just out of reach at it's surface, and he knew the only way to it was answers.

Scully immediately went for the old fashioned filing cabinets, dissing the computer. Mulder thought about splitting up and using them to cover both grounds, but he knew it would take him a while to find the right icon, never mind figure out how to log in.

There was only the sound of file cabinets being opened and slammed shut, neither sure what to say about anything. Then from across the room came a sniffle, causing Mulder to look up and see Scully slumped against a file cabinet.

He quickly got up and joined her side. She did not move. He saw tears drop onto her cheeks again, and he caressed her jaw line for comfort. He felt it was useless to wipe away tears when only more would come.

She turned her head to him. It was rare for Scully to show when she felt weak, but with Mulder it didn't pain her like it did when it happened in front of others.

"I don't know where to start. I don't know where to look. I don't know what to look for. I don't know what to do," she whispered, her lip quivering.

He made her sit on the floor and he brought her close to him, almost sitting in his lap. She let him. He had his arms wrapped around her and she held on to them, almost as if she was afraid of floating away.

"No one would know what to do. We just had a child that we knew nothing about fall into our lives before disappearing with the answers that would let us know what to do. I mean, fathers don't always know about children, but mothers? Babies grow inside their mothers, but she was stolen before she even existed. We didn't even know we should be looking for her. And now that we do, shes gone. We had her. She knew about us all her life and all she ever wanted was us and we didn't even know that there was someone who we wanted. No one knows what to do Scully, but that doesn't mean we can't not do."

Scully looked up to him.

"Why do you always speak in puzzles?" she asked, a smirk absent from her face but not her voice.

"Our whole lives are puzzles," he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up.

"Now, lets start looking. We have to find where to look for our daughter before the wrong people start coming in and start looking for her too."

His voice held that Mulder sparkle that everyone called crazy, but that Scully loved more than any other sound, except for maybe Nova's laugh and William's long lost soft coos.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

_Her scuffed up Mary-Janes dangled over the side of the dinning room chair that she sat in. She had to stretch a little bit to reach the crayons on the table top, but she refused to sit on her knees. She was a big girl and wanted to sit like one, even if that meant she couldn't see over the edge._

 _Nan tried to read her book, but her eyes kept going to the little girl across from her. Her cheeks were flushed with summer heat and her hair was pulled up in a ribbon. Her dress already had the stains of a child, mysterious in origin but completely common._

 _Her little tongue stuck out and her blue eyes were only slits. How a three year old could be so concentrated on a magenta blob she referred to as the 'kitty president' was beyond Nan. She smiled behind the book she was pretending to read._

 _Then she heard the little hands she always had to remind to wash put down her crayons. She adjusted herself in the big chair and sat back, causing it to squeak._

 _Nan looked up from the book that she had not turned a single page in and looked at the little girl. All that could be seen from over the edge of the table was her little nose and up, but Nan could see something was bothering the girl._

 _"What's wrong Nova?" she asked. The little girl shifted in her seat and she stretched to rest her chin on the tables edge._

 _"Why didn't my mommy and daddy want me to live with them?"_

 _Nan's chest clenched. She'd rather have asked her where babies come from. Normal babies at least, not syndicate babies. She knew that question would come some day too, but this one broke Nan's heart._

 _Nan got up from the chair and picked up the three year old and held her in her arms. She fought the urge to cry as she saw the longing in Nova's eyes. She was so young yet she already knew so much._

 _"No Nova. They don't know that you could live with them. They don't know that you're here," Nan said to her. She picked up Nova's scribbles and carried it over to the fridge to hang it up. That always made the little girl happy._

 _"Do they miss me Na? Do Mommy and Daddy and Brother miss me?" The little girl leaned against her caretaker. She was getting sleepy, which is always when she got philosophical._

 _"They will one day. They will," Nan said holding her close._

* * *

The cafeteria in the youth wing of the complex resembled the private school lunch room that Nova had grown up being tormented in. The kids even stared at her as she passed and she almost expected one of them to reach out and grab the invisible plaid skirt she felt like she must be wearing.

The only thing though is these kids weren't looking at her and smirking. They had wide eyes and looked at her with wonder. Some of them smiled and looked at their friends, almost buzzing. They were excited. The were excited for her?

Charlotte directed them to the back towards a taco bar. It was long and had every taco topping someone could desire. It made both of the Scullys' mouths water.

"We only allow the kids to get two helpings, but the kitchen staff was notified that you two can get as much as you need. You can sit where ever you want and after dinner you can follow the other children to night recreation or you can stay in here and wait for me. I have some matters to attend to but I will see you again before the night is over. Fill your bellies and I will see you soon," Charlotte said. She waved to them and walked back out of the lunch room before either twin could ask a question.

They felt exposed in the cafeteria full of strangers of strange origins. They didn't realize it but they had begun to scoot closer to one another. They stood shoulder to shoulder for a moment when a loud growling broke through their anxiety. It was William's stomach. He smiled and it made his sister giggle a little.

"Lets eat. Hopefully the sooner we finish, the sooner we get answers."

William agreed to that and both filled their plates, excited to enjoy their first meal together in months.

* * *

Mulder and Scully sat in their car, their find scattered out on the dash: 6 measly pieces of paper.

"I wasn't expecting to find much, but the amount of documentation they have on the LGM seems insulting," Mulder said

Scully put her hands on her face. Mulder patted her shoulder, but she leaned away. She needed a moment to herself and Mulder understood that.

He looked at her crouched over, trying to get her thoughts together. Yet all he could see was his daughter asleep on their couch, tucked in. He wanted her back there. He needed her back on that couch.

There was no information on who Nova was or how she came to be at the FBI, but the Cigarette man and the Syndicates would have tons of it. There was one place to start looking for them.

"Maybe we should take a trip to see an old friend of ours," Mulder said.

The car was started and in drive before Scully could say anything, but it was okay because she had already gathered the papers and had buckled up.

"Who is this friend?"

Mulder looked at her, then back at the road. That was his answer and it was enough.

* * *

The twins sat at a table by themselves, eating what may have been the best chicken tacos they had ever eaten.

William was already on his third plate before either of them began to speak. It was William who reached out to rub the cross around Nova's neck between his fingers.

"I'm glad you are wearing this and you didn't loose it with your bag," he said between bites.

Nova nodded. She had always kept the replica cross from her Uncle Richard in the framed picture of her parents. She wasn't good with jewelry and was always afraid she would loose it. It was fate that she decided to take it with her. It was the only real possession she had left. She had lost everything.

There was suddenly tension between the two and William turned to face Nova. She knew that this may be the start of an argument.

"I still think you should come with me Galaxy."

Nova pushed her second plate away and faced him.

"Why? So I can feel like the weird Area 51 stowaway? So I can be reminded every day that I have no parents, that I am a test tube experiment, and that my brother is loved and cherished but I am the cause of a horrible death for the only person who would take me back?" she kept her voice flat, trying to restrain her anger.

William seemed to get flustered and he ran his hands through his hair like he did when he was trying to think of a come back. Yep, this was going to be an argument.

It was then that Nova saw out of the corner of her eye, someone approaching them. She jabbed William in the chest and when he looked back up at her, very angry, she threw her head in the direction of the group walking towards them.

The twins sat straight, side by side, straight faced. Even if they were mad at one another they teamed up for one another, even for something as simple as meeting strangers.

Five teenagers walked over to their table and sat down on the bench adjacent from them. They all wore the same suits the Scullys wore and seemed to be around their age. One of them seemed to be more confident than the rest. She wore a smirk and sat in the middle of them. She was surely the leader. Right on cue, she spoke.

"My name is Monroe, but everyone calls me Monnie. There is no need to introduce yourselves. William and Nova, everyone knows who you are," she said.

William and Nova looked at one another and then back at the crew. Most of them had brought their dinner with them, which meant they planned on staying for a while. Nova wanted to get on top of the conversation though, so she tilted her heads towards the other kids.

"What about your names?" she asked bluntly. Monnie smiled bigger and looked to her friends.

The boy on the far end started first and they went down the line.

"Conor."

"Leia."

"Turner."

"Abigayle, but don't call me that."

Nova cocked an eyebrow but before she could ask the question both her and William were thinking, Turner smacked her in the arm.

"Tell them what you want to be called moron!" he hissed at her. The girl who asked not to be called Abigayle got angry and took one of the soft tortillas from her plate and hitting him with it. It stuck to his face for a moment before hitting the floor.

The twins instinctively pressed against one another, feeling the tension of the meeting rise.

"Did you just hit me with a tortilla?!" Tanner barked, loud enough to get kitchen staff's attention.

Suddenly the two were on the floor, rolling around in an attempt to slap and bite one another. Staff that had entered the cafeteria came upon the fight and separated the two, taking them out. In a moment everything was back to normal.

"Call her Tallie and everything will be fine," Monroe said, picking off the removed girl's plate.

"Tallie? There isn't even a T in Abigayle," William pointed out. Nova shot him a look, but it was lost due to the fact he wasn't paying attention.

"Turner and Tallie are like you two. They're twins split from the same Ova. They were raised together but they had a really rough upbringing. The SRA went and saved them from a horrible foster care situation and when they brought them here, she wanted to be closer to her brother. So, she called herself Tallie so they would have that twin name set. Unfortunately the first four years of their lives had a lasting effect on them and they aren't all there, so everyone just goes with it to give her a little peace."

Nova reached down for her brothers hand. No life that involved anything with labs or Syndicates would be easy, but I guess they had both lucked out with their quiet and confusing life in Wyoming.

Nova realized she had lost her appetite completely. She pushed her plate towards her brother but all he did was stack it on top of his. He wasn't hungry either. Monroe snapped her fingers and Conor took the plates to the garbage can. They didn't seem to question her requests.

"I know Charlotte gave you the choice to stay in here or come with us after dinner. That is in two minutes. You should both come with us to show that you are adapting to the rest of us well."

"Excuse me? Why exactly should we just blindly follow you?" Nova asked, crossing her arms. Monroe just smiled and leaned on her hand.

"You're cute," she said with a laugh. It stopped Nova in her tracks, her sarcasm coming to a stall. Monroe had her attention, just like she wanted.

"They are watching you. How much you're going to eat, how well you are getting along with the rest of us, if you are prone to fighting or going with the flow. They watch us all, but they will especially have their eyes on you," she whispered with a grin, pointing to the twins.

Nova fought the urge to gulp. She suddenly felt like a fish in a pet store tank.

"Why do they care so much?" William asked.

Before Monnie could answer, a bell rang. All of the kids with plates still on their tables got up and threw them out and headed out the door. Monroe and Conor and Leia got up and followed. Monroe got to the door and looked over her shoulder, an eyebrow cocked. Nova didn't look to her brother this time, knowing what he would say.

She got up and he caught her wrist. She tried to remain strong and fearless and let him know she could do what she pleased, but he picked up on her fear instead and sighed. He got up and followed the flow of kids out the doors. Both looked to the corners of the room and tried to avoid the gaze of the staff. They no longer felt like they were here out of the kindness of the SRA's hearts.

The area that the kids seem to gather in was smaller than "normal city" but still huge. They walked along the top level this time. There were rooms with glass walls, easy to see into. They watched teenagers surf the internet in a computer lab and read books in fluffy bean bag chairs in a library that held at least 1,000 titles. There was a game room and a room with musical instruments of the highest quality.

William and Nova were gawking again. How could something so big and intricate, a literal city, be hidden underneath a patch of deserted dust? Nova noticed her brother looking down on the other two levels of the complex. She joined him to take in the sights.

Instead of city square like in the main area, there was a large playground. The space had jungle gyms and swings and slides that tickled the edge of the second level. Children as young as 5 squealed and ran around the area, their shoes taken off to feel the fake grass planted their between their little toes. The staff of the unit sat, watching over them like the parents they never had.

Nova realized something.

"Why are there such young children here? I thought the Syndicates stopped their work."

Monroe cocked and eyebrow and Leia shook her head. She spoke for the first time since giving her name.

"The Syndicates have never stopped. They never will. Three years ago the SRA rescued one group straight from the Syndicates building. Toddlers and babies, but they weren't stopped and they got every single child from their cots. Why was it so easy, when SRA members have died leaving the compound for pizza from Domino, to rescue 35 screaming Syndicate creations?"

"Because they wanted them to take them," William chimed. There was silence again.

"But why would they want the SRA to have them? They tracked down William and I after 15 years of silence. They seem really interested in their children."

Leia took a step closer to Nova and it made her skin prickle.

"They wanted the SRA to take them because they don't need them anymore. The testing is complete. Now they just want them to exist now, and the SRA could raise and protect them without them running around and bothering the bad men while they move onto their next project."

Their next project. It hit Nova like a punch in the gut. That's what they had fallen into. Those goons with the weird mechanical element, those people, that strange iv bag of fluids. These people were still messing with the very make up of human beings without any remorse of the ultimate damage they purposely caused. How could they dump the kids that they created and ruined only to ruin more.

The chicken tacos that Nova had so greatly enjoyed did not taste good coming back up. She threw up every single bit of protein she had managed to consume and covered her shoes with it. She fell to her knees as her head spun.

Her emotions were out of control and so was her head. She heard a warbble that could only be the cry of her concerned brother warped by the confusion in her head. She wasn't positive but she was sure she could smell Charlotte's perfume growing stronger and the lights in the music room flicker. She tried to fight the darkness that crept around her eyes but couldn't.

She passed out just as a set of double doors open, several figures rushing through. She couldn't tell who. All she knew was the burning hot rage that swept over her. The Syndicates still had their grip tight on her and she knew it.

* * *

"Mulder where are we?"

Scully walked closely to Mulder, feeling bigger beside him. He had said that they needed to park as far away as they could manage, but Scully was in heels and her feet were beginning to throb.

She also didn't appreciate the lack of street lights, other cars, or signs of civilization.

"There is this building somewhere out here. Sticks out like a sore thumb due to the fact that its the only up-kept lot within a mile. I heard a rumor that people who are connected with the same people who created Nova," he said.

"We are in the middle of a town straight from a low budget horror movie based on an old rumor?" Scully said, hissing. It had been over 20 years, but he still amazed her.

Thankfully Mulder didn't have to argue with her because they walked up and there across the street was a large office building. Every window on every floor spilled yellow light onto the side walk across from them and there even seemed to be a parking garage that led underground.

"I wish you would start trusting my hunches more Scully," he said with a smirk, not looking at her directly. She hit her arm.

"Lets go see if anyone will tell us about our daughter unless you want to stand there and wait for you to think of another come back."

Scully didn't have to look to cross the street thanks to there being no cars so she strode away confidently, her heels clicking against the broken asphalt. It took him a moment to recover from the burn, but he ran to catch up with her.

They walked into the foyer of the building. It was plain, not making an impression on either agent. Mulder knew that was purposeful. A woman sat at a large desk in the center of the room, typing on a computer. People were still walking around, going into different hallways even though it would be past the time of closing for any business.

Mulder and Scully walked up to the desk and got their badges out, ready to present. The woman on the computer looked over her glasses to the two and then sighed. She obviously felt like she had better things to do.

"I'm sorry but we are closed," she mumbled.

Mulder presented his badge, but the woman didn't even glance at it.

"We have a few questions about this building and your workers."

Scully looked around, knowing if the place really had been closed, the doors would have been locked. They were in the right place, but for what she wasn't sure.

"I wouldn't be able to answer any questions and there is no one currently here who could. If you are adamant about these questions, it would benefit you to come back during business hours."

Mulder looked down the hallways on either side of them. There was still about 20 workers crowding around in each. They looked tense and were whispering frantically. One was even looking at a map.

"Could we not ask the present workers our questions?" Scully asked. She matched the annoyed tone of the receptionist.

The woman suddenly stood up, causing the agents to step back.

"Do you have a warrant Agent Mulder and Agent Scully? Because if not I think its time for you to go."

It was a threat that was met with two men that looked more like buff sumo wrestlers. They towered over both agents. Scully knew they were there without anyone's knowledge and both had come armed but it would be pointless against this many people.

Mulder put his hands up.

"It is getting late and we wouldn't want to keep you all from getting home to your families," he said to the two goons more than anyone else.

He took his arm and wrapped it tightly around Scully and lead her out. She looked back inside to the people, panic washing over her.

"Mulder what do we do? No one is going to give us a warrant and we can't take them on by ourselves. How are we suppose to get her back if no one will help us find her!" her voice shook and it broke Mulder to his core.

"Scully, we are going to go back to the car and wait and watch these people. We have found who took her and I know it because I showed them my badge."

The redhead stopped in the middle of the street across from the building. There were tears in her eyes but she looked at him like he had a third ear on his forehead.

"So?"

"I only showed them my badge, but they knew your name."

* * *

Nova watched as a nurse wrapped her stitched wrist, freshly cleaned a spread with a fresh layer of antibiotics. She had a small knot on her head, but it wasn't a big deal and she felt fine.

"Have you always had spells like these when you become emotional?" the nurse asked. Her name was Sheryl and she was very nice, but Nova felt less than talkative.

"Um, they started when I was 9. I got pushed off the swings and began to cry and when I got back up, I passed out and woke up in the hospital."

"You should tell Ms. Louise that when you meet her."

Nova shifted on the hospital cot, wishing she could be released.

"Is she the president, founder lady that Charlotte talked about?"

Sheryl laughed as she put up the gauze. Nova cut her eyes but stopped as soon as she turned around.

"Yes, I guess you could call her our president. She is expecting you and your brother as soon as I am done with you, witch I think I am. No more complaints or pains?" she asked, running a tender touch over Nova's face.

Nova shook her head and looked away. The gentle touch brought her thoughts to her mother. Her heart throbbed, wishing to forget the comfort of Dana Scully.

Thankfully her thoughts were pulled in a different direction when the clinic door flew open. Nova hopped off the cot as her brother ran into the room, finally allowed in. He hugged her and looked over her.

"Are you okay? No seizures or anything? Is your head okay?"

She jerked out of his grasp. She was still angry with him and she wanted him to know it.

"I'm fine William," she grumbled. He looked to the floor with sad eyes and she had to look away. He wasn't going to change her mind.

"Alright I will find someone who can take you down to her office because I can't leave-"

"I'll do it."

They all turned around to see Monroe standing there. She had also waited for Nova.

Sheryl clapped her hands together.

"Of course. Your curfew is soon anyway so you'd be down there anyway. Okay, thank you Monnie," now she turned to the twins saying, "It was nice to meet you and I hope if I see you again its under different circumstances."

Nova and William followed Monroe down the halls, walking out of the hospital wing and towards the floor that held the offices of the woman named Ms. Louise. Nova jogged to catch up to the girl. She walked beside her for a minute before she looked to her, Monroe's sandy blonde shoulder length corkscrew curls bouncing with each step.

"How come you have to report to curfew at the president's office?" she asked.

They reached a set of double doors with a keypad. Nova thought they would be locked out but Monroe punched in the code. The door unlocked with a clock and opened up into a vast hallway. It looked homey and had pictures on the wall.

Nova looked at them and stopped in her tracks. They were pictures of Monroe with a women with long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. They were of the girl toddling towards her and making her laugh. Of the two posed together. Monroe came to stand beside her.

"I come to the president's office for curfew because the president is my mom," Monroe said.

Nova jerked around, suddenly angry.

"I thought you were a Syndicate kid!" she said, clenching her fists. William came to stand beside her, ready to defuse a fight.

"I am," Monroe said with a snarl. Before Nova could said anything else Monroe raised her hand and suddenly William lifted off the ground and flew down the hall. She caught him right before he slammed into a wall and gently set him on his feet again. She let go but his knees buckled anyway.

She turned to Nova who's mouth hung open. She had extraterrestrial abilities for sure, but Nova didn't know how to respond.

"Louise is my mother because she adopted me when I was rescued. That's how most of the kids live around here. They are assigned to 'families'. The apartments Charlotte told you about? Yeah adults get them and then get assigned children to take care of so they have a family. It supposedly helps the kids because they have mom and dads and then it helps the adults because they're infertile thanks to our DNA."

William shakily joined them back at the other end of the hall. Nova put her arm around him, the anger she felt for him no longer mattering.

"What about their actual families? The mom and dad who got their child stolen from them?" William asked.

"What about them? We never know them. Once we get to the SRA, all files are lost. Plus. Most of us are grown. Its too late for that."

Nova felt disgusted.

"No its not! I mean you should at least know who they are! Parents love their-"

The sound of a door slamming open made the kids jump. There standing in the doorway was the woman in the pictures a long the wall. She held a little girl in her arms who was no older than four. She was blonde like Louise and Monroe. She put her down and the little girl ran to Monroe and clung to her legs. Monroe softened at the little girl and picked her up with a smile.

"Monnie, please give your sister a bath and put her to bed for me. I am going to be in the office late."

"Yeah no problem. Lets go Laney. Bye Nova and William. See you tomorrow," she said. There was something in her eyes that told her their conversations would continue tomorrow.

The twins watched as Monroe and Laney entered a door that opened up to what looked like a large bathroom. Neither wanted her to leave them. She gave one last nervous glance before closing the door.

Louise had snuck up behind them and put her arms around them and began to lead them into her office. Thankfully when they got into the large room, the found it had about 5 other people sitting in it. One was Charlotte.

Both twins almost ran to her, but kept their pace slow to make it look like they were teenagers, not scared three year olds. Surprising to them, Charlotte wrapped her arms around both Scullys and pulled them closer to her. She sensed they were scared.

There was a large desk and a leather desk chair and that it where Ms. Louise took her seat. She leaned onto her desk, her hands clasped and her face dripping with warmth from a suspicious smile.

"Well well well. How we have been waiting for the day to lay eyes upon the Scully children."

The rest of those in the room all happily muttered, agreeing with their leader. Besides Charlotte, there were three men and one woman. The men were buff and ranged in age, but all appeared clean and presentable. The other woman made Nova's heart catch in her throat. Her eyes were large and a chilly blue with black hair that hung at her shoulders. She noticed Nova looking at her and smiled slyly. Nova quickly looked away.

"Are we going to get some answers or are you people just going to continue to expect us to be okay with everything that is happening?" William asked, stepping away from Charlotte.

This caused the president to sit up straight, her smile less sweet but still very present.

"You may ask us anything William. We have nothing to hide."

William looked to Nova and nodded. She needed to go first.

"How do you know so much about us?"

"Well. You two are very valuable to the Syndicates. You have an older sister, I'm sure you're aware. She died because they failed to create a proper being. It took four years but eventually you were born. Their main focus was Nova, but she was stolen by the Lone Gunmen and dropped in Wyoming. After that, they had no Scully child so they were determined to take William or exterminate him. Then, someone injected him with a serum to neutralize his abilities. Your mother felt he was in danger and gave him up. Then, we manipulated certain documents and orders to ensure that William ended up with his parents and that you two would eventually meet. We have been in your lives since you were both 15 weeks gestation."

William and Nova both looked clammy. This was so much to take in. William look flustered though and approached the desk.

"Why do you feel the Lone Gunmen stole Nova? They saved her. She would have ended up like Emily and no one would have known she existed."

Charlotte adjusted herself in her seat, uncomfortable for what may be told.

"Because the Lone Gunmen interrupted our plans of rescue for Nova and nine other infants, one of which was my daughter."

"Monroe?" Nova asked quietly. She felt the tension and was scared to ask.

Louise looked at the ground, grinding her teeth.

"No. I had an Ova stolen from me. They named her Maya, but I refer to her as Amelia. After they stole Nova right from under their noses, security went up. We couldn't get right away. It took another two months, but by the time we got in. She was gone. Amelia had died of an infection of the lungs. All they had left was her identification bracelet. All I had left of my child. Because the Lone Gunmen moved in, I lost my child and Nova lost a life of stability and love and safety."

Louise seemed so angry she could spit. Nova moved closer to the desk this time.

"What do you mean?" she could barely get it out.

Louise looked at her and stood. She grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around to face Charlotte who wore a very nervous smile.

"Nova Scully, meet the woman who was so ready to welcome you as her own. To give you a life of love and stability Who legally and emotionally prepared for you since you were an embryo. Who, by law, is your adoptive mother."


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Nova fell onto the desk top, no where else to sit and collect her racing thoughts. Louise got up to check on the girl, but not before William stepped in front of his sister.

"What do you mean adoptive mother?" he growled.

Nova felt like she should be startled by William's sudden change, but it instead made her feel safe.

Louise pursed her lips and slowly sat back in her seat, tapping her long, pale fingers on the armrests.

"I mean, in a court of law, Charlotte Barrow is Nova Katherine Scully's legal mother."

Nova stood up, right behind her brother. She grabbed on him to move, but he stayed there. He wouldn't let this woman any closer to her.

"How is that possible? I have birth certificates from the Syndicates that document my- ya know, birth. Then I was given blank birth certificates and blank adoption paperwork so Nan could fill them out and use them as my legal documentation of life and who I am!" Nova's voice was as heated as she felt.

Louise had a snobbish smile on her face as she rolled over to a file cabinet and riffled through it. She plucked out a single folder and then laid it out on the desk top. The Scully twins looked it all over.

"See the thing is, unlike the Lone Gunmen, we have official ties to the government. You could say we work hand in hand in a way," she started as she flipped through the papers.

"When they... 'rescued' you, they took you and any documentation that they could find. Then they stole legal paper work to give you a new identity and keep you safe for the time being, but that doesn't mean that paper work was real in the eyes of the government."

William looked at her, almost studying her. Like she was different some how that they were having this conversation. She wanted to slap him.

Finally Louise found what she was looking for and held it out, her face sweet again. Nova took it with caution. She didn't want to look at it, but she did anyway.

She read the very official adoption certificate. Not from Wyoming, but from the state of Maryland where she was born. Her name was not Nova Katherine Scully as she had always been told, but Nova Beatrice Barrow. She handed it to her brother. She was numb.

William only seemed to get more flustered.

"This doesn't mean anything. Nova was adopted by Nan and her name is Nova Scully. Legally, physically, mentally, and emotionally she is the daughter of Dana Scully. My mom. Our mom. This is just another piece of garbage paper printed in an attempt to make people involved with the Syndis make us forget what happened to us. To her," he spit. He shoved the document back at Louise and stood beside Nova. He looked at her, strong and confident. Her protector.

A rustle behind them made Nova look back. She had forgotten Charlotte was still there. She looked like she wanted to leap from her seat, tears at the edges of her brown eyes. That piece of garbage paper meant something to her and it made Nova feel badly for her.

She forced herself to look back at Louise who looked to be fuming. Nova didn't notice it before, but her hair was actually short, her ends curly and close to her face. It seemed very old fashioned but it fit her stern demeanor. Her eyes were a freezing blue and Nova felt if she looked into them too long, she would freeze from the inside. She was beautiful in a frightening way.

Charlotte clearing her throat ripped her gaze from Louise. The tears in Charlotte's eyes had been blotted away but she still looked uncomfortable. She smiled still, clapping her hands together.

"So you know why we know so much about you. You were both valuable and people were willing and attempting to kill you both. We wanted to keep you safe as well as for personal reasons," she said with a hoarse voice.

"Okay, well what about all of this? This place is like an underground city!" William was asking the questions now and Nova was okay with that. She was tired of where being curious got her.

One of the men finally piped in.

"Well, actually it is. It was started back in the 40's when nuclear war was still very scary. Early 70's the Syndicates formed and automatically people rebelled. We found this location, all dug out with the skeleton work done. It took ten years but eventually the SRA got it as they wished it to be. The first group of SRA workers moved in and we began mapping rescues and expansions and creating the organization you now find yourself tangled in."

The other two men nodded, happy with his answer. William raised an eyebrow. It was the answer he had been looking for since they had arrived, but it was still weird.

Nova wondered about all the people in the room and felt it fair to know who each was.

"Who are all of you, as individuals and how did you get to be associated with the.. SRA?"

Louise started, even though Nova would be okay not knowing anything about her.

"Louise Normandy. I am the president of the Syndicate Rescue Association living and training facility number 20073 located in Lost River, West Virginia. I joined the force after being taken by supposed members of the FBI where I had a single ova harvested due to my blood pathogens being of interest to them. I became the president of this location after only a few years and have been here since."

William looked like he may awkwardly clap for the woman spewing her story, but Nova elbowed him in the rids. Better to keep quiet, even if she found his sarcasm funny.

Charlotte sat up straighter in her chair, continuing down the line.

"You guys know I'm Charlotte Barrow. Me and my husband live here. I started out working for the other side of all this mess until it was that I saw what was really happening, how badly lives were affected. I came to the SRA and was first set to be a neurological scientist, but after we lost track of Nova," she paused to clear her throat, "and I chose to get a degree in social work and became a therapist for the pediatric unit, where I met my husband and settled down here permanently."

Nova couldn't bring herself to look at Charlotte again so she looked to the man next to her. He smiled and sat at the edge of his chair. He looked like William's dad in a way, the one back in Wyoming.

"Hey, I'm Patrick Duller. I am a Syndicate. I was a teenager when I found safety in the SRA and was one of the many who chose to stay and form a life here. I help teach a class that is called 'Modernity'. It is more for the children who have never known anything outside of the facility. They need to be informed and educated of the real world. I'm married and have two children."

He looked proud at the mention of his family. Nova wanted to feel that it was sweet, but was still unsettled about what Monroe had told her. They weren't his children and their real parents were lost to them.

"Children," a deep voice beckoned her from her thoughts.

They turned their heads to the person. Both twins felt disappointment when they saw it was a man who looked like an 80s middle school gym teacher and not Batman, like his voice suggested.

"My name is Luke Slue and I am head of all functions and running of the compound. The electricity, the plumbing, air and heat. My father worked on the building of the original building. Before it could be completed he passed away, and I was taken in by one of the original group of people who worked here first. I've never left," he said.

Nova was beginning to notice that all these people came with sad stories. She was beginning to regret asking about them. Nova looked to the last man, hoping he had a better explanation to why he was there.

"He's mute," Louise said.

 _Nope. All sad._

"This is Orin Mark, he is head of placement. He was taken from an orphanage by the Syndicates as a child in hopes for new research. Whatever was done to him caused him to go mute. We rescued him and he made his way up the ladder. Now he studies every case of every child to place them with the best household."

The man smiled at them, proud of his title. Nova and William both felt pity for him. They weren't much younger than him, but his voice had been taken from him. All of these people had lost someone or something to want to help the SRA. Why?

Finally there was one last person. Nova timidly moved her eyes to the last chair. The woman still wore a smirk on her face. Nova felt a flush come over her and she hoped it wasn't visible. The woman sat up straight, never breaking eye contact with Nova.

"My name is Vanessa Gribben, but most of the kids call me Ms. V. I teach combat training, gun training, and survival techniques. I came here to find answers after I watched my adopted baby sister be shot and killed by the men who had created her. She was seven. I wasn't going to stand around and do nothing so I ended up here. I've been here for ten years and plan on going no where."

Nova wasn't aware that William was staring at her until Vanessa had sat back in her chair. He had a knowing grin and his eyes looked like he was just itching to say something brother-like. She wanted to slap him. She wanted to slap William a lot.

"So now you know our team and what we do and why we are here. Is there anymore questions?" Louise sighed. She obviously had already checked out of this meeting.

Nova saw out of the corner of her eye Ms. V eyeing her. It made her twitch so she searched her brain for another question, any question at all. She turned to Charlotte.

"Who was the first therapist who came and saw me in the hospital? Was she with the man who kidnapped us?"

She felt like it was a fair question, and pretty could since her anxiety once made her so nervous she asked what color the sky was in a box of crayons.

"Her? Yes she was. But she was obviously new because she believed that I was also a worker there and was taking on the project. I honestly think she didn't want the project so she gave it over without any hesitation. Oh and the man who kidnapped you is called Cigarette Smoking Man. Just for future reference," Charlotte said. She seemed relieved it was not a question dealing with her past with Nova.

"How original," William grumbled. Nova tried to remain sullen, but a smile broke through.

Louise placed her hands on her desk and pushed herself up. Everyone else followed.

"Well I am sure you two are tired, I know I am. So Charlotte is going to take you to an unoccupied flat and have you stay there for the night. We will meet again after breakfast to discuss where you will be going after this and what you will want to do," she said, looking at Nova as she said the last sentence.

Nova furrowed her brow, wondering what she meant. There was no way to ask though because Louise dismissed everyone and they hurried out of the room, leaving the twins with Charlotte once more.

Charlotte was looking at her phone, the screen bright from a new text message. Nova wondered how on earth they got service this far under ground.

"Do you mind if we run by my apartment? There is something a little urgent I need to handle. The empty flat is actually right down the hall from me so it will be on the way," the woman said as she placed her phone back in her pocket.

"Yeah of course," Nova mumbled. She felt awkward about Charlotte and didn't want to create anymore uneasiness between them by demanding to take them to their rooms.

William sighed, his energy officially completely drained, but he knew they just needed to go to the apartment. He thankfully didn't have it in him to argue.

* * *

The apartment was a little ways away from the office, but they made it there in about five minutes. The halls were much quieter now and only an adult here or there walked the halls. It was impossible to tell what time it was with no windows, but it seemed to be late at night. Then again, Nova had completely lost track of all time and place and just felt like she was a roaming shadow.

Charlotte lived in an apartment over looking the other apartment doors and hallways. Her door was easy to spot because of the unique floral door wreath with a big burlap 'B' in the middle of it. Charlotte produced a house key and stuck it in the lock. She turned the knob and opened the door, gesturing for them to enter.

"Home sweet home," she laughed nervously as she entered her apartment.

Nova followed behind her, passing William. She pretended not to notice him reaching to grab her arm. She knew why he didn't want her to go in, but that's exactly why she needed to. She had to see what could have been in another life.

They came into a living room. Just another normal modern living room. Not technical or space oriented or science-y. All it was was a room for a family to sit down to watch tv and spend fun moments together.

Nova wasn't sure why she felt so disappointed. That's all she had desired herself, her family spending time together in a room like this. This was just another room for another family. Only it could have been hers. She could have spent Christmases on the brown polyester couch waiting for Santa Claus. She could have watched movies forbidden by her adoptive mom with her adopted dad but her face would be buried into his side the whole time. She would have had a happy life and knew nothing different. She had seen a million different paths she could have taken since going to look for her parents and now it seems, she may had chosen the wrong one.

A tiny voice pulled her out of her self pity and back to the space around them.

"Mommy! Mommy!"

Nova looked past the living room and into a hallway where a little girl was bolting towards them. She ran right past the twins and to Charlotte. She clung onto her legs and buried her face into the woman's knees.

Charlotte picked the girl up just as the man who had to be Charlotte's husband joined the crowd. He went to his wife kissing her cheek before stepping back.

"She refused to get into bed until you came home to tuck her in. She says I do it wrong," He said with only the slightest fatherly amusement in his voice. He smiled until his eyes met Nova, which made his body stiffen.

The air in the room seemed to become dense. The little girl picked her head up from Charlotte's shoulder and looked at Nova. They met eye contact and never broke it.

"Mommy, who is that?"

Charlotte cleared her throat and adjusted her grip on the girl. She finally stopped looking at Nova to look once again at her mother.

"Poppy, that is Nova and her twin brother William," she said nervously.

The man seemed to gray and the little girl's mouth fell open.

"Our Nova?" she whispered so low it could barely be heard.

"Wait she knows who I am?" Nova asked, suddenly feeling a lurch in her gut.

"Nova," William said, reaching for her.

She turned around and gave him a serious look of warning. He backed away, knowing challenging her would be pointless.

Now it was the man's turn to step forward.

"Of course she knows who you are. We couldn't not tell her of her sister," he said. Nova was sure she heard a quiver in his voice.

"Aaron, don't do this right now," Charlotte warned.

He gave her a pained expression, but thankfully it was Poppy who broke the tension. She pushed away from her mother and out of her arms before wandering over to Nova. Nova crouched from instinct to meet her on her level. She had green eyes with hazel flecks that rested beautifully on rosy cheeks. Her hair was thick and brown and was styled in a pixie cut. She currently had a big pink bow clipped into it, making her look like a little doll.

They stood there for a moment. Everyone was silent. Both of the girl's eyes fluttered over one another. Both studying and observing. By the time the little girl's arms shot out and wrapped around Nova's neck, it didn't feel strange. Nova immediately embraced her back.

"Sissy I've been praying you'd come home. Mommy and Daddy love you, and me too. We've been waiting. I'm so happy to meet you Sissy," she hummed into Nova's ear.

Nova squeezed the girl tighter, each sentence hurting worse than the one before it.

"I'm happy to meet you too Poppy," Nova forced out of her mouth. She wasn't sure if the words were hard to say because they were a lie or because they may actually be true.

The little face rose from Nova's shoulder and she looked to William. She walked to him, her tiny hand outstretched. William did not take it right away, but he grasped it loosely and Poppy shook it in a business like manor. It was awkward but the little girl continued on anyway.

"I know who you are too. You're William. You're my sisters real life brother. Twins. You got to be with her. You two are special, but I am not sure how I feel about you," she said matter of factually.

"Poppy! That is not nice, apologize," Charlotte scolded the little girl.

Poppy looked back to William with the slightest look of dismay.

"Sorry William," she grumbled quietly.

There was a moment of silence before the four year old walked back over to Nova and quickly hugged her leg before reaching for her mother to pick her up. She laid her head on her shoulder to let her know she was tired and done with the situation.

"I will see you two tomorrow, bright and early. If you have any problems during the night, just come and let us know. It is fantastic to have the Scullys here and we are all glad your safe."

Charlotte was addressing them both, but she looked only at Nova as she said the last few words. She turned to go down the hall and through a door to what must have been Poppy's room, shutting the door behind her.

Now they stood there with Aaron who, had produced a key. He motioned for them to follow him and they did, glad to leave the apartment.

Nova chewed on her lip, not sure how to process what exactly what was going on. Would anyone? Her life was already Tim Burton weird, and it seems she had now fallen down some dark twisted hole. She wanted out of it all, but she felt that it was too late.

They reached another door and Aaron stuck in the key. He had to wrestle with it slightly, but eventually it opened.

"This flat is basic. You have one bedroom and one bath along with a kitchen and family room. The TV works, but we work off of Netflix and Hulu. Nothing brand new. We moved two beds into the bed room so you can both have two separate places to sleep. If you need something from Charlotte or me, pick up the chord phone in the kitchen and hit 3*. It will link you straight to our apartment. Anything you need now?"

William and Nova both shook their heads. Even if they were curious about anything, they were too tired to ask. Aaron nodded at that and turned to go. He stopped and looked back at Nova. She sensed there was so much he wanted to say. He cared for her, but she knew nothing of him. Something tugged at her to go to him and apologize, but she couldn't. All she could do was flash a thankful smile at him and close the apartment door behind her.

* * *

Mulder watched Scully in the seat beside her. She had tear stains on her face and her brow was furrowed, even in sleep. For Fox, it was distressing to find out of a child he never knew of. A little girl who he would have loved, no matter how she was brought into the world. She was his baby. Now, not only had that happened, but it was happening a second time for Scully.

She did not get to spend much time with Emily before she passed. She was like a leaf in the wind, here one moment then gone the next. William was a different heart break completely. But here it was again, a child ripped from her in a way no mother should have to experience.

What made it worse was the love Nova had managed to bring with her. The small little girl shivering and drenched in a puddle of mud was going to be the biggest rock of their worlds. Her smile was something so warm and radiant, he had to wonder if a strand of the sun had been laced into it. Her eyes, so large and the exact shade of blue as her mother, it was breath taking to him.

Mulder felt tears sting his eyes and he wiped them away quickly. He had to focus, but it was so hard when Scully slept in the seat beside him. He took her hand in his and dragged the pad of this thumb across her soft skin. She stirred at his touch but settled back down. The day had been so exhausting for her. She needed some sleep. She hadn't made it fifteen minutes into heir stake out before she crashed.

Mulder felt sleep tugging at him, but he had to watch the building. They had only drove into a shadowed place two buildings away and were now watching the back door. Scully felt they needed to watch the front, but there was no place to park and not be seen.

The parking garage next to the building also had cars in it, so Mulder assumed they would see anyone leave or enter. Other wise they were just looking at a dumpster and fire escapes. He knew his daughter had been in that building. It was unlikely she was still there. He wouldn't have kept her there after they had showed up, poking around.

Nova would have already been moved or was preparing to be moved, and either way they would follow them all. He would chase them to the ends of the earth to rescue his daughter. There was also the boy. Mulder relied on his hunches, and he had a hunch he was not to blame for any of this. In fact, Mulder had a hunch that he was closer to them than he said.

He wouldn't tell Scully, not now at least, but he felt Billie was William. Their William. He trusted Ringo and if he said William was going to reunite with his sister, than he would. Billie shows up, very protective of her. And he had those Scully eyes and Mulder's nose. And the red hair was as concrete as it got when it came to genetic clues.

Scully's phone began to vibrate in her pocket, causing her to sky rocket out of her seat and smacking her face on the car's roof. Mulder was startled by it all and kneed the steering wheel, making the horn chirp out a quick cry.

"Mulder! Watch your legs! There is no angry traffic to explain random honks out here!" she hissed, still dazed and her hair erratic from the disturbance.

Mulder put his hands up and pointed with one raised hand to Scully's coat pocket. She looked at him confused for a moment before reaching into her pocket. She looked at the screen and sighed heavily. She answered it reluctantly.

"Skinner, its late," Scully groaned.

"Then why are you out in Virginia?" the man on the other end barked.

Scully looked at Mulder, who awaited to hear the other side of the conversation. Scully always had her volume up high enough that the person near her could also hear, which was always usually Mulder. She slowly put her mouth back to the receiving end.

"How do you know where we are at?" Scully let her annoyance seep into her voice. She wanted Skinner to know this wasn't a conversation she currently desired to have.

"Because! I get an anonymous call asking why the FBI is looking into a private fertility company in Virginia saying you're flashing your badges for information that you have no rights to!"

Skinner was yelling now, causing Scully to pull the phone away from her again.

"Fertility company?! Are you serious?!" Mulder yelled so loud Scully was worried their cover could be blown.

She pressed a finger to his lips, his body automatically releasing the tension he held. He was flushed from anger, but he didn't want to cause any more noise.

Skinner had one last question, but it seemed he was afraid to ask it.

"Dana, does this have anything to do with Nova?" he asked timidly.

Scully dropped her finger from Mulder's lips. She felt a lump form in her throat, but she forced it down. She scraped all the confidence she could find within herself and answered with a swell of courage.

"I'm not going to let her get taken from me. I don't care what you say Skinner, she is more than what you know. I have to trust myself. I can not let another one be ripped away from me."

With that, she hung up. She wasn't sure what that meant for her job or for her legally, but she didn't care. She had to find this child. Her child, supposedly.

She switched her phone off and stuck it in the middle console.

"Mulder, turn off your phone. We don't need Skinner tracking us or continuously calling us," she said. A grin spread on his face as he took his phone from his pocket and switched it off.

"Rogue, just how I like my Scully," he purred to her playfully. She laughed at him and punched his arm. His jokes were stupid but she loved them, and him.

She placed his phone in the console along with hers and shut it. No technology trail was always a safer approach.

They sat in silence for a long period of time. Neither shared what was on their minds, trying desperately to understand what was happening by themselves first. Scully tenderly looked to the back seat. She had been there just the other day. The mud she had tracked in was still on the floor mat. She had experienced so many extraordinary things in the past 24 years, but their orphaned teenage daughter ending up in the same empty field as them? That couldn't be a coincidence.

"Mulder, who was the woman who called you about the fire? The one that led us to Nova."

Mulder looked at her, him going over certain details in his mind.

"She didn't give a name. It was anonymous."

Scully raised her brow so high she wondered if they were even still attached to her face. Mulder sat up completely straight and leaned against the steering wheel.

"Mulder, who ever called that in was wanting us to run into her. I mean, even if there had been a fire we wouldn't have been called! Someone knew Nova was here before we did and they wanted us to be the ones to pick her up."

"But why?" Mulder mumbled as he looked out the car windows and at the stars.

"That's always the question isn't it," Scully replied back, looking up at those same stars.

* * *

The apartment was almost a carbon copy of Charlotte's, only the domestic and family touches missing. William walked into the bathroom and shut the door, so Nova took the opportunity to fill her belly. She had lost all her dinner and was eager to eat.

She nearly squealed when her eyes fell upon a large can of peaches. She swiped them and sat on the corner, devouring the perfectly ripe fruit straight from the tin can.

William walked out and peered at Nova, a smile slowly spreading on his face.

"Peaches?" he asked, going to the refrigerator and peering in for something himself.

"Don't judge. These were my favorite. Sweet and juicy and fills my belly. Nature's candy. I would spent a good portion of my money on these, I also risked stealing them," she replied with a mouth full of golden fruit.

William closed the fridge, a juice in his hand.

"You stole stuff?!"

Nova tipped her head back to drink up the liquid before she rolled her eyes. She looked around for a recycle bin and disposed of the can before giving her brother a nasty look.

"William, believe it or not, my money didn't last past the second month. All the stuff I brought with me were memories and I wasn't going to sell them. Nan told me how to carry certain products out of the store. I didn't steal anything I didn't need. Plus, sometimes I took the food for other people in exchange for a place to sleep."

William's heart broke, right then. She could see it in his posture and the ways his eyes looked her over, scared the outside world had broken his sister. It didn't, and she placed a hand on his shoulder with a soft smile.

"I grew a lot as a person out there Will, but I am still your weird half twin. Your galactic soulmate. Don't worry. "

He wrapped his arms around her and breathed her in. He didn't want to cry, but he felt the tears well up in his eyes anyway. Those four months had been a special type of hell for him and Natalie.

Nova was their smile and ray of sunshine with wack job ideas that often left them with bruises and fire damage. William had always felt like the strong one, the leader, the protector. But the day that Nova walked into that tree line, it all fell apart. No one knocked on this window at midnight to lay under the stars and discuss life. No one there to give him advice and tell him how important he was.

They were two different parts of the same whole, and he didn't realize how true that was until the other half was gone.

She patted her back in that way only Nova could and he wept. He tried to prepare his life without her, both him and Nan accepting she may not make it. To hear she had almost died tore him to shreds and all he wanted to do was protect her. To take her away from all of this craziness. He couldn't let her go out into that again.

Nova sensed his anxiety building so she pulled him back. His face was red and snotty, damp with tears. She eyed the hallway and then looked back at her brother.

"Lets go see where they expect us to sleep."

There were two twin beds in the bed room, both with a nightstand and lamp. There was a note from Louise telling them she had gotten them all for the two, but Nova threw it to the side as they rearranged the room.

They pushed the beds together and heaved the nightstands to the side. Nova used them as stepping stones, leaping from each one to the now big bed. She jumped, giggling wildly, landing on William. He heaved her off of him, laughing just as loud.

They laid there for a long time, laughing and rolling around. Pinching and tickling the other just like when they were young. The held one another, sharing warmth and love. Nova took in the changes to her brother. He had new freckles and had grown in the months away. His hair also seemed to be darkening, not as bright a red as before. She looked him over and saw his eyes give way to shadows, no longer the happy brother he was moments ago. He needed to say something.

"Will, what is it?"

She watched him bite his lip and begin to silently cry again.

"I was the one to find Nan."

It was as if all the warmth and air had been sucked from the room. Nova felt the blood drain from her face.

"What?" she whimpered. His lip quivered and he shut his eyes tight. His sister brushed away tears with shaky hands. She didn't want to know, but she knew he had to say it.

"I woke up to the sound of a car door. I watched the black sedan pull out and fly down the gravel and off of the hill. I don't know why I knew, I just did. I knew something was wrong. I pushed my window open so hard I splintered the wood. I ran to Nan's house. The door was open. She never leaves the door open! The sun hadn't even made it over the horizon. All the lights were off, but I saw her. On the floor. She was laying there and I knew she was gone before I even touched her. Her clothes were all messed up so I straightened them out. I tried to close her eyes, but they kept opening. She didn't want to sleep Nova. I also noticed her locket that I got her for Christmas. It had pictures of you as a baby and your last school photo. I had to take it off. I ripped it from her neck to protect you Nova. But the blood, the blood had started to pool and it got on me Nova, it got on my hand and the locket-"

He sobbed into her neck now. She held him and she was waiting. Waiting for him to crumble like the way he sounded in his voice. He was shattered and she knew it. She knew that's why he told his parents everything and why he wanted to go back. It was all he had ever known and the moment they started this adventure had been nothing but turmoil.

She patted his back and held him like a small child. Tears flowed silently from her too, but that didn't matter to her. She didn't see him reach into his pocket and pull out the locket, but she felt him press it into her palm. She turned it over and over in her hand. The rose gold heart locket was still stained with crimson. She held it so tight she was afraid it would cut into her skin. It took a moment to find the strength to fumble with the clasp and put it around her neck.

The golden cross replica and the locket laid around her neck, shimmering gently under the lights. She placed her hand over both of them and closed her eyes. The two most important women to her, now gone from her life. All she had left of them laid on her heart, and that's where she would always keep them.

"Who am I?" Nova asked suddenly enough that William looked startled by it.

"What do you mean Galaxy?" he whispered, sleep starting to creep into his eyes.

"Nova Langly, Nova Scully, Nova Barrow. How am I suppose to know where to go or what to do if I don't even know who I am?"

William yawned and patted the bed space beside him. Nova laid down beside him and he covered her with a blanket before looking her over and smiling.

"You can be whoever or whatever you want to be. You can choose what you'll become or where you'll go. Its ultimately up to you, but I know you'll be great no matter who you choose to be."

Nova laughed, a last tear falling from her eye. She yawned, drowsiness suddenly making her body feel like lead. She nodded though and kissed her brother's cheek. He closed his eyes and did not open them again.

Nova turned off the lights and laid back down beside him. She felt his warmth and breath and the safety that he always brought with him. They cuddled up just as if they were three again and imagined for a precious moment that they were back on that hill in Wyoming.


End file.
